Feral Hiccup
by Griffin Stone
Summary: (Race to the Edge timeline.) When an accident causes Hiccup to forget his friends and start acting like a dragon, he bolts. The Riders are left scrambling to catch their leader before he is found by dragons, Hunters, or worse.
1. Protective Nadders

**A/N: This started as a one-shot idea I gave thepurplewriter333 for her story _Through the_ _Hurts_... two years ago? Wow, this is an old plot. XD Anyway, she gave up TtH soon after, and I decided it still needed written. The plot has really grown since then, because Hunters got involved (Dagur has a dragon brother now) and I had too much fun with Stormfly in this. And Heather. And Toothless.**

**Anyway, this is why Hiccup really shouldn't be left alone around new dragons. XD**

* * *

Hiccup trotted through the island's forest, keeping an eye out for Toothless in the sky. As a "training exercise," he'd had the Riders and dragons switch around for patrols. He'd flown Meatlug that morning, then had Astrid take Toothless for a flight.

He'd been sure to send them in the opposite direction of his destination, but there was always the chance that they'd catch onto the plan and check on Hiccup.

He grinned to himself, eyes widening as a brilliantly-colored Edge Nadder swooped overhead. Hiccup came to a stop and tensed, but the Edge Nadder didn't respond to his presence, and he was able to watch it vanish over the trees.

There was something about watching dragons that Hiccup couldn't resist. Whether they were playing, sleeping, or flying, Hiccup couldn't take his eyes off them.

It wasn't just Toothless or the other Riders' dragons, either. There was something different in watching wild dragons. They acted the same for the most part, but their attitude was more wary and cautious. It was trickier to get close enough to watch them, but Hiccup just found that to be a personal challenge.

Then, Hiccup had noticed a group of Edge Nadders settling on the far side of the Edge a few weeks back. Jumpy and territorial, trying to invade their space was just asking to be impaled.

And yet, Hiccup was there every other day, watching. Even when he was spotted and Toothless had had to come to his aid before his Rider was a goner wasn't enough to deter him.

Hiccup knew it was dangerous to keep returning. Astrid had been furious after the last incident, in which Hiccup had found himself short one prosthetic. Toothless had made it clear in his own way that he really didn't like having to keep saving Hiccup from his own curiosity.

Nevertheless, Hiccup's ploy had been successful and he managed to reach the edges of the roost without incident.

The Edge Nadders had made their nests on the steep cliffsides of the far side of the island. The cliffs were tricky to reach in that area, due to the high stone walls that separated the forest from the cliffs. The only approach was to fly in from the ocean.

Unless one happened to be a particularly scrawny Viking boy small enough to slip through the cracks in the stone.

And thus, Hiccup was able to creep through the stone walls and crouch at the cliff's edge. He was nearly invisible from above, and the nesting dragons below wouldn't notice if he was quiet.

As Hiccup crawled the last few feet and peered down, he was delighted to see a half-dozen babies flew and crawled clumsily amongst the roosting area. Hiccup hadn't seen them before, so they must have been hidden further in roost cave. The new additions led to twenty-three Edge Nadders.

Hiccup was content to lay quietly sketching, until a scratching noise caught his attention. He squirmed forward and peered further into the roost.

A couple of the bigger babies had started wrestling. High-pitched snarling came from toothless mouths, while chubby paws batted harmlessly at each other. They went ignored until their fighting sent them rolling into an adolescent male with black-speckled scales. The male growled and shoved them away, causing a green-and-red females to leap up with a roar. The male immediately shrunk back with a sheepish rumble. The female glared and turned away, then the male lifted his head. He started to strut away, but a growl from the female made his tail tuck and he scurried out of the roost.

"_Kind of like Astrid and Snotlout,"_ Hiccup thought with a chuckle.

It never ceased to amaze Hiccup how similar of personalities he could find between the dragons and Riders.

Since finding the group, he'd noticed a pair of dragons with enough trouble-making habits to compare to the twins. Pretty much any time he saw the dragons, the pair did something destructive, like the pile of fish they had just scattered.

The Astrid-like female squawked at them and shoved them toward the edge of the roost, where she proceeded to snarl at them. A larger male with muted scales stepped up to frantically fix the fish pile.

Hiccup had to bite back a laugh. "_Definitely Fishlegs."_

The largest, brightest male that none of the other dragons challenged was easily compared to Stoic. Another male with ragged wings kept an eye on the youngest dragons with a gruffness that reminded Hiccup of Gobber. Even Heather had a "dragon twin," that dark red female standing on an outcrop with a very Heather-like scowl directed at… him.

"Oh, Thor."

Hiccup threw himself backward as the Edge Nadder shot a magnesium blast. The blast hit the ground under Hiccup, making the ground shake and throwing Hiccup to the ground.

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Hiccup yelled as roaring began to rise from the roost.

Hiccup stood and tried to run for the gap in the wall, only for the black-speckled male to crash down in front of him. He flailed to a halt and spun around to find the dragon twins right behind him. Desperately, Hiccup dove between the pair. As both tried to snatch him up, they only succeeded in knocking head, buying Hiccup some time.

Hiccup tugged at the Dragonfly, rapidly unfurling the fabric wings and hooking his fingers into the straps. Jumping right past the roost was risky, but he hoped the dragons wouldn't be expecting that and he could find safety lower down.

Roaring from behind prompted Hiccup to leap without checking which dragons were watching from below. He dove, then saw the green-and-red female clutching the stone wall halfway between the top and the roost. He jerked his wings out and they caught air, pulling him abruptly out of the dive and right into the dark red Nadder's path.

Hiccup only had time to duck his head, then he crashed right into the Nadder's side. Squawking, the Nadder snapped her wings down.

Dark spots danced across Hiccup's vision as a thick wing joint caught him in the side of the head. Everything spun out of control, and it took Hiccup several seconds to realize that he was falling. He flailed to find which way was up, but landed -headfirst, of course- on something warm and hard.

Hiccup flopped limply off whatever he'd hit, sprawling on rough ground on his stomach. He struggled to keep his eyes open as large, blurred shapes moved back and forth in front of him. Dragons rumbled over him and -he had to be hearing things- Hiccup heard voices.

"**Human!"**

**"Get! Attack!"**

_"Strange,"_ Hiccup thought blearily, blinking against the confusion of colors. _"I don't know those voices…"_

Something hit Hiccup in the side, flipping him onto his back. A cry escaped him from the jarring, and his eyes fluttered shut. A loud crash from close by made him twitch, then another unfamiliar voice called out.

**"Stop!"**

Something rough touched Hiccup's cheek, then he gave up on consciousness and everything turned black and silent.

* * *

"When I find that one-legged little…" Astrid let her threat trail off.

Toothless grumbled in agreement. Astrid had to smile a bit at Toothless' irritation matching her own. It hadn't occurred to her -or Toothless, most likely- that Hiccup might have been up to something that morning when he suggested the training exercise. It wasn't such an unusual exercise, so Astrid had gone along with it.

As soon as she realized that Hiccup was missing from the Clubhouse upon her return, however, she knew exactly what had happened. Toothless, having come to the same conclusion, had spun on the spot and taken off again.

"Hey, Astrid!" Snotlout shouted as Hookfang pulled up beside Toothless. "What's the rush?"

"Hiccup's about to get himself killed," Astrid gritted out.

Hookfang slowed briefly, then caught back up. Snotlout didn't look impressed as he called, "Isn't that normal?"

"Yeah, Hiccup's almost died, like, every day," Tuffnut said as Barf and Belch joined.

"That's more than the average Thorston," Ruffnut added.

Astrid glared at the twins. Meatlug -her wings straining to keep up with the angry Toothless- buzzed in between Toothless and the twins, and Fishlegs lifted his hands in a calming gesture.

"There's no reason to jump to conclusions," Fishlegs said. "Maybe he's… forgotten about them?"

Astrid's glare turned into an exasperated look. Fishlegs' expression of hope faded to defeat, and Meatlug dropped back again.

"This is Hiccup," Astrid reminded the group. "He's not going to just ignore dragons, no matter how dangerous they are!"

Toothless roared, making Astrid look at him. The Night Fury's face was clenched in a snarl and facing down. Astrid followed his gaze, then gasped.

Hiccup was sprawled on the ground in the forest. Hunched over him was a large Edge Nadder. His ragged wings were spread wide as he roared a challenge at the Riders.

"Protect Hiccup!" was all Astrid yelled before urging Toothless into a dive.

Toothless eagerly complied. He dove at the Edge Nadder, launching a plasma blast. The Edge Nadder dodged away, then, roaring, spun and rushed off into the forest. Toothless landed hard in front of Hiccup, tense and ready, but the Edge Nadder continued to flee.

"Odd," Astrid said, still on edge.

"Nadders aren't known for ambushing or tricks," Fishlegs said. "He must have been scared off when he saw how many dragons there were. Still, we'd better get out of here."

"Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, watch for the Edge Nadders," Astrid said, not wanting to take chances.

While the named Riders moved their dragons between Toothless and the direction of the roosts, Astrid climbed off of Toothless and went to Hiccup.

The young man was unconscious, but had no burns or claws marks like Astrid had feared. The only injury she could find was a bump and gash on his head. The gash was oozing blood, and Hiccup's hair was spiky from drying blood.

"It could be a lot worse," Fishlegs declared.

"He's wearing the Dragonfly," Astrid observed. She crouched and touched Hiccup's face, but he didn't respond. "He must have flown too close to the roosts."

"But the Edge Nadder roost is far from here," Fishlegs said.

Astrid stood. "We'll ask Hiccup what happened once he wakes up."

Astrid mounted Toothless and gestured for Fishlegs to give Hiccup to her. Fishlegs carefully slid his hands under Hiccup and picked him up. Hiccup gave a slight grumble, but didn't rouse. Fishlegs handed their unconscious leader up to Astrid, who carefully cradled him against her. Hiccup made the same odd grumble. Toothless made a similar sound. Astrid looked at the two of them, then shook her head.

"Let's go," Astrid said, urging the other Riders to mount and take off.

* * *

A bit later, the Riders and Toothless were gathered in Hiccup's hut. Hiccup's head had been cleaned and bandaged and he seemed to be sleeping easily, but he still wouldn't wake up.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Astrid asked after a few minutes of silence.

"He should have woken up on his own by now," Fishlegs fretted. "Hold on. I just need to get something from my hut…"

Fishlegs left quickly. With nothing better to do, the other Riders followed. Toothless watched them go, then turned back to the bed as the door to the hut closed behind the Riders.

A moment later, Hiccup sat up. Immediately, he curled over himself and grabbed his head. Toothless pricked up his ear flaps and crooned. Hiccup, without lifting his head, gave a distressed mew.

**"Hurts…"**

Toothless blinked and reared his head back. Not at the admission of pain, but how it had been given.

**"Calm,"** Toothless crooned back, nudging his Rider.

**"Head hurt."**

It wasn't Toothless' imagination. Hiccup was speaking Dragonese. The Night Fury shook himself and stood.

**"Stay. Toothless find help."**

**"Stay…"**

Toothless crooned comfortingly, then turned and dashed from the hut, trusting Hiccup to stay put.

* * *

Pained green eyes tracked his path down the ramp and out the opened launch door. He slowly hauled himself to the floor. Rising to unsteady limbs, he shakily followed Toothless' path until he reached outside.

Squinting in the bright light, he found himself facing a cove. Beyond the steep-walled cove was an endless ocean, broken only by stone pillars and an odd, triangle-shaped object on the horizon.

He turned his head back and forth until he spotted the forest. Still on all fours, he made his way toward the trees.

* * *

Astrid was impatiently waiting for Fishlegs to stop mumbling and fumbling around in his medical supplies. She was about to go back to Hiccup alone when Toothless, making startled growls, barreled into the hut.

"Toothless?" Astrid said, confused. Toothless grabbed onto her skirt and tugged, causing her to worry. "What is it, boy? Is it Hiccup?"

Toothless growled in agitation. He spun and darted from the room.

"Something must have happened," Fishlegs said, scooping up an armful of supplies.

The Riders hurried back to Hiccup's hut and to the second level. Toothless was circling Hiccup's now-empty bed, crooning worriedly.

"Oh, not again!" Snotlout exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

Just in case, Astrid checked the floor around the bed in case Hiccup had simply rolled off. But he wasn't anywhere on the floor, and Toothless was only growing more agitated.

"He must have wandered off," Fishlegs said.

"But why?" Astrid asked. "He has to know that we would be worried. Not to mention, why did he leave Toothless?"

"If his head's been hurt, he might not know what he is doing," Fishlegs said.

"Oh, yeah," Tuffnut threw in. "Remember Uncle Cuffnut, Ruffnut?"

"How could I forget?" Ruffnut grinned. "A beam hit him on the head, and he talked backward for the whole day!"

"But Hiccup isn't even here. How do we know which way he is talking?" Snotlout asked.

Astrid decided to not respond to either of the trio's comments. She looked at Fishlegs for possibilities.

"He could have forgotten what happened. He could just be looking for us," Fishlegs said. "But the sooner that we find him, the better."

Toothless grumbled in agreement and ran outside. He sniffed frantically, while the Riders called their dragons to help search. Meatlug, Hookfang, and Barf and Belch showed up quickly, but Stormfly didn't come no matter how much Astrid whistled.

"She must be upset about me leaving her here earlier," Astrid finally decided. "Hope she didn't wander too far."

Astrid shook off the thought. Stormfly could take care of herself. Just then, there was a certain fishbone Viking that Astrid had to track down and knock some sense into.

"Fishlegs and Meatlug, check the huts," Astrid said. "Snotlout and Hookfang, check to the west. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Barf and Belch, go east. I'll stay with Toothless and see if he can follow Hiccup's trail."

That decided, the group split up to find their missing leader.

* * *

**A/N: And the search is on! New chapters every Thursday!And don't worry about me stalling halfway through; this story is actually fully typed and edited! For once.**

**Unlike my Rescue Riders stories, Dragonese in this story isn't in complete sentences. **


	2. Dragon Boy

**A/N: Incredibly busy for the next few days, so don't be alarmed if I take a bit to get to your reviews! **

**Response to Random Fan: Hiccup is so dead. But, Hiccup ends up those places all the time, so, eh. No biggie. XD I've been looking forever for a chance to use Dragonese, and I couldn't pass this up! Again, Hiccup is so dead. Be it Astrid or Toothless, he's doomed. Most definitely is he going to search for his "flock." **

**Real fast:**

Regular speech

_Thoughts_

**_Dragonese_**

* * *

_"Head hurt. Where flock?" _

He crawled through the forest, confused and disoriented. He had thought that getting away from the dark, enclosed den would fix things, but he didn't know where he was. He paused and looked at the sky, wondering if he'd be able to find the others from there. He stretched and flexed… well, nothing.

Even more confused, he turned his head. He gave a distressed growl at the sight of his bare back and no tailfin. No tail and he couldn't feel a paw, either.

He craned his neck down to check his left hind paw. Both of his hind paws looked different. The right was thick and brown, but the other was one big, skinny claw that gleamed a dull gray.

He blinked and tapped the claw on the ground, still not feeling anything aside from the thumping halfway up that leg. After a moment, he decided to ignore it.

He moved in a circle, as if the missing wings and tail had fallen off. On his search, he stumbled over limp red wings on his forelegs. That didn't feel right, but nothing did, so he didn't question it. He crouched and flapped his wings.

Nothing happened. No powerful wingbeat, no rush of wind against his muzzle. He couldn't even _feel_ his wings!

He growled in anger and straightened to keep walking, only for the forest to veer sideways. He collapsed on his right side.

"_**Hiccup!"**_

A roar and large footsteps had him scrambling to stand. He managed a wobbly crouch, then a Spike-Flinger stepped into view.

This dragon was much, much bigger than him, but he wasn't going to be intimidated. He snarled threateningly. He was surprised, but pleased, when the larger dragon stopped her advance.

"_**Spike-Flinger territory?"**_ He asked cautiously.

The Spike-Flinger cocked her head. "_**No dragon territory."**_

He bobbed his head, pleased. "_**Mine."**_

The Spike-Flinger churred. He sniffed, not impressed. Having steadied a bit, he straightened and stalked closer with his head reared back and a warning show of his teeth. The Spike-Flinger squawked and cocked her head back to show her throat. He sat back, pleased by her submission.

"_**Name?"**_

"_**Stormfly,"**_ the Spike-Flinger supplied. "_**Hiccup know that."**_

"_**Hiccup?"**_

"_**Name. You."**_

He frowned. How could this Spike-Flinger pretend to know his name? Besides, that was a silly name! His name was… he blinked.

"_**Not remember name,"**_ he growled softly.

Stormfly cocked her head. "_**Hiccup good name."**_

He grumbled. "_**Name Hiccup."**_

Stormfly squawked happily. Hiccup repeated the sound.

"_**Where Hiccup going?"**_ Stormfly asked.

Hiccup sat on his haunches and looked around. He'd claimed this territory as his, but he didn't really want it. It was too flat and grassy, with no den in sight. He moved his foreleg shoulders up, since he didn't have wings to ruffle.

"_**Where Stormfly going?"**_ he asked instead.

"_**Stormfly follow Hiccup?"**_

"_**Hiccup lone dragon!"**_

Stormfly churred, making Hiccup show his teeth in a pleased way. The friendly Spike-Flinger didn't seem to mean him any harm.

"_**But, Stormfly come,"**_ Hiccup allowed. All dragons needed company.

Stormfly rustled her wings and crouched, clearly offering him a ride on her back.

"_**Hatchlings ride,"**_ Hiccup said in disdain.

He stood, then his legs wobbled and he fell on his face. Stormfly stepped closer, cooing in concern.

"_**Hiccup ride,"**_ Hiccup sighed.

Gentle jaws grabbed Hiccup's back-scales and lifted him. Stormfly settled Hiccup on her back, then moved further into the forest.

* * *

"Hiccup! Hiccup, where are you?"

Astrid stopped to listen, but there were no voices beyond her own echoing back. She scowled at the forest, wondering if she had gone too far and should backtrack.

"I don't think he could have gotten this far if he was hurt, Toothless," Astrid said.

Toothless looked back at her, then resumed sniffing the ground. He grumbled and walked away. Astrid went to where he had been sniffing, and found a large set of tracks that was unmistakably Stormfly's.

"Well, we found Stormfly," Astrid said. "I wonder if she's looking for Hiccup, too."

Toothless paced around Astrid, then stopped to paw at the grass. Astrid followed his gaze, and spotted a flattened section of grass that wasn't a pawprint. A faint trail led to the flattened spot.

"Hiccup?" Astrid eyed the area again. "He walked this way… then fell, it looks like."

Toothless rumbled his agreement.

"But where did he go from here?" Astrid asked.

Astrid gasped as she spotted something else. Picking up the white rag, Astrid's breath caught when she saw the drying blood on the cloth. Shaking her head, she stuffed the rag into her belt and looked around.

There was only one trail leading to the place that he had fallen. Astrid looked from the flattened spot to Stormfly's trail. Her dragon must have found him and given him a ride, though why did Stormfly's trail go _deeper_ into the forest?

"Let's follow Stormfly, I guess?" Astrid said.

Toothless offered his back to Astrid, who gladly climbed on. Toothless raced along the path of the tracks for a minute, then slowed when they reached a rocky stretch.

"Lost the trail?" Astrid asked.

Toothless sniffed the air as he continued to make his way up the rocks. Eventually, he stopped in front of some boulders that formed a cave. He cooed and looked back at Astrid, prompting her to slide to the ground. She held up her axe cautiously as something scratched against stone.

"Stormfly?"

A familiar squawk came from the cave. Stormfly walked into view, but stayed near the cave entrance. Astrid walked closer, then hesitated when a strange growl came from the cave.

So, it wasn't Hiccup. It must have been a wild dragon that Stormfly had found, probably injured. Either that, or Hiccup had found a wild dragon when he walked off. And while she didn't hear any signs of Hiccup, he would never forgive her if she left an injured dragon.

Astrid walked carefully forward. Stormfly squawked defensively, but calmed when Astrid put a hand to her muzzle. Astrid looked past Stormfly, where she could barely make out a small shape in the dark cave. She set down her axe and stepped closer. The shape snarled.

"It's okay," Astrid said soothingly. "I don't want to hurt you. Stormfly, can you convince him to come out?"

Stormfly turned and squawked at the hidden dragon. The dragon snarled again and shifted deeper into the shadows.

Astrid rolled her eyes. She didn't have the time to deal with a jumpy dragon Hiccup's way. If she went in and showed no fear, the dragon would just have to deal with her presence.

Walking back to the treeline, she grabbed a solid branch. She brought it back to Stormfly and had her light the end.

"Okay, dragon. I'm coming in," Astrid said, then walked right into the cave.

Astrid only had time to raise her hands defensively when the small dragon roared and launched itself at her. It wrapped gangly limbs around her, hitting her with enough force to knock her backward out of the cave and onto her back.

Astrid could give as good as she got, though. She shoved up, forcing the dragon's hold off of her, and rolled them both so that she was on the dragon's back. She reached to pin the wings, then stopped, finally able to get a good look at the "dragon."

"Hiccup?"

In her moment of distraction, Hiccup bucked Astrid off. She hit the ground, then rolled quickly away as Hiccup leaped at her. She scrambled to her feet, looking to Stormfly for help.

But Stormfly was acting as oddly as Hiccup. She was blocking Toothless from reaching either of the Riders while growling a challenge.

"What in Thor's name is going on here?!" Astrid demanded.

Hiccup backed off at Astrid's yell. He gave a small, dragon-like roar, and Stormfly left Toothless to run to his side. Astrid's dragon crouched beside Hiccup, snarling at _Astrid_.

"I think someone got into the dragon nip," Astrid said with a sigh. "Hiccup, why are you encouraging her?"

Hiccup just growled. Astrid stared at him.

"Okay, Hiccup, this has gone on long enough," Astrid said, starting to get weirded out. "Let's get back to the Clubhouse and have Fishlegs take a look at you."

Hiccup continued to growl. His hair stuck up in weird spikes, giving him the appearance of a wild animal. The almost feral gleam in his eyes certainly added to the look.

"Oh, Thor," Astrid murmured. "This is a lot worse than Fishlegs thought. Toothless, can you grab him?"

Toothless snorted, giving Astrid an unimpressed look. Pushing Astrid back with a wing, Toothless stalked closer. Stormfly squawked and moved defensively in front of Hiccup.

"_Never take a toy from a dragon,"_ Astrid thought, remembering one of the rules of dragon training. Although, it seemed more like she thought Hiccup was her baby or a fellow dragon.

"Stormfly, back!" Astrid said firmly.

Stormfly squawked, but backed away. Hiccup stalked forward, apparently thinking that he could hold his own against Toothless.

Toothless crooned calmly at Hiccup, who returned it with a snarl. Toothless paused and growled. Hiccup growled back.

"_Are they… talking?"_ Astrid wondered.

She shouldn't have been surprised, really. If Hiccup thought he was a dragon, why not talk like one as well?

It would have been less shocking if it didn't sound like Toothless actually understood Hiccup's growls.

Nevertheless, Astrid remained still and quiet, waiting to see how Toothless would act.

Toothless apparently ended the conversation with a snort and bold step forward. Hiccup growled, but Toothless took another step.

Toothless got as little of a warning as Astrid had. Hiccup threw himself at Toothless, wrapping his arms and legs around Toothless' head and neck. When Toothless didn't budge from the attack, Hiccup set about clawing and kicking the dragon viciously.

His lack of claws kind of ruined the "vicious" part, though. Astrid didn't know whether or not she should laugh at Hiccup's antics.

Toothless rumbled at his Rider's odd actions, then gave a toothless grin. Letting out a pained roar that was obviously fake, Toothless staggered sideways. His legs wobbled, then he collapsed to the ground, head dropping heavily with Hiccup still clinging to the underside.

Hiccup gave a squeal of shock. He squirmed, but found himself pinned.

"Good boy, Toothless," Astrid said, stepping closer.

Spotting her, Hiccup screeched like a trapped Nadder. Stormfly returned the sound with an infuriated roar. Astrid didn't bother turning, she just threw herself to the side. She rolled and came to her feet in time to see a magnesium blast hit the ground a few feet back from where she had been standing seconds before.

Toothless growled in surprise. Hiccup took the distraction as an opportunity to jerk his body and slip out from under Toothless. Toothless roared and reached, then Stormfly rammed into him and knocked him rolling. Stormfly grabbed Hiccup around the middle.

"Stormfly, no!" Astrid yelled.

Stormfly stopped and looked at Astrid. Hiccup lifted his head and glared at Astrid from his awkward position.

"Drop it," Astrid ordered.

Stormfly cooed, but didn't make any move to put Hiccup down. Astrid tried again, more firmly.

"Drop it!"

Stormfly started. She held her position, though. Hiccup was grumbling dragon sounds under his breath.

Astrid was worried she and Stormfly would be stuck, when she noticed Toothless slowly standing. A rapid plan formed in Astrid's head.

"Okay, girl," Astrid said, taking a few steps to the side. "So you don't want to give us Hiccup."

Stormfly turned to follow Astrid's movements, unknowingly turning her back to Toothless. Luckily, the Night Fury caught on to Astrid's plan, and positioned himself to leap.

"Can you bring him back to the Clubhouse?" Astrid tried. "You know, like when we play fetch?"

Stormfly perked up at the mention of "fetch." Hiccup growled, so Astrid took a step back. It would be best if she could get Stormfly to carry Hiccup to the Edge. At least if Stormfly tried to hide with him there, Astrid would know they were someplace safe.

After a moment of Stormfly not moving, Hiccup dropped his head. From that vantage, there was no missing Toothless creeping up on Stormfly. Hiccup screeched a warning.

"Now, Toothless!"

Toothless leaped, but Stormfly was quicker. She jumped and opened her wings, rising out of reach.

Astrid groaned, then her eyes widened at Toothless' yelp. With no time for her to move or Toothless to stop, Toothless barreled full force into Astrid.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter. Was so much fun to write! XD**

**A fun thing about working with dragon terms is finding new names for the dragon breeds! **

**Had more to say. Can't remember. Adios.**


	3. Meet and Greet: Night Fury Style

**A/N: No major excitment in this chapter, but who's ready to see dragon-boy introduce himself?**

**Response to Random Fan: XD It's fun (for us) while it lasts! Maybe. But it works. Bye!**

* * *

"Get off of me, you giant scaly lump!"

Toothless rumbled as he unfurled his wings, releasing the furious Astrid. She clambered out of his forepaws that he'd wrapped around her to protect her from the ground, and stared up at the sky. She threw her hands up in frustration, and Toothless was very glad that she didn't have her axe to throw at something.

"We have to go after them," Astrid said, retrieving her axe and turning to Toothless.

Toothless shook his head and raised his tail, earning another groan from Astrid. He grumbled and lowered his tail, wanting to chase after his Rider as much as she did. But in tussling with Stormfly, his tailfin had been bent out of shape.

Astrid climbed into the saddle and tried to work the tailfin, but the bent metal wouldn't fold right. Hiccup could have managed, but Toothless didn't want Astrid to try. He turned in the direction of the Edge and bounded off for help.

* * *

"_**What that?"**_ Hiccup asked Stormfly, gaze trained behind him.

"_**Human,"**_ Stormfly explained. "_**That Astrid."**_

"_**Danger creature named?"**_ Hiccup asked, incredulous.

Stormfly churred, but wouldn't tell Hiccup what was funny. Hiccup looked ahead. Stormfly had flown them safely from their attackers, and was approaching a large wall of stone. As Stormfly flew over the wall, Hiccup spotted a flock of Spike-Flingers below.

"_**Stormfly!"**_ Hiccup squealed, pointing with a paw. "_**Flock!"**_

"_**Mean flock,"**_ Stormfly said, turning away.

"_**No! No!"**_ Hiccup pounded a paw on Stormfly's back. "_**Hiccup flock!"**_

Something told Hiccup that he needed to go to the Spike-Flingers. He was sure that it was his missing flock!

Stormfly churred again, then wheeled to land on the side of the rock wall near the trees. Two female Spike-Flingers, one green-and-red and other dark red in color, growled a warning.

"_**Our territory,"**_ said the green-and-red female.

Hiccup chirped a greeting and peered over Stormfly's head. Immediately, the females' tail spikes flared.

"_**Human!"**_ roared the dark red female.

Human?! Hiccup spun around, flaring his wings best he could and baring his teeth. But he didn't see or smell the creature from before. He looked back at the females in confusion, who were eyeing him.

"_**No human,"**_ Hiccup told them.

"_**Hiccup dragon," **_Stormfly said.

Hiccup kicked Stormfly with a hind paw. "_**They know."**_

The green-and-red female cocked her head. "_**Hiccup human."**_

Hiccup's head reared back at the accusation. He scrambled off Stormfly's back and stood in a Spike-Flinger's pose of aggression: hindpaws spread wide, back arched, wings flared, and chin tucked in while he growled. He couldn't flare his tail spikes, though, so he made up for it in an extra-loud snarl.

The females -Stormfly included- exchanged looks. The two strange Spike-Flingers gave amused churrs.

Stormfly bobbed her head. "_**Stormfly."**_

The strangers repeated the greeting. The green-and-red Spike-Flinger was Swiftwing and the other was Nightrise.

Swiftwing and Nightrise flew up and called for Stormfly and Hiccup to follow. Hiccup eagerly climbed onto Stormfly's back for the short flight. The group flew over the wall to the nests, causing the other Spike-Flingers to growl defensively.

"_**Calm,"**_ called down Nightrise. "_**Raggedwing hatchling returned!"**_

"_**See? Hiccup flock," **_Hiccup told Stormfly smugly.

"_**Hiccup know flock?"**_ Stormfly asked.

Hiccup beamed as Stormfly landed. The other Spike-Flingers watched. Most were just curious, though a couple watched Hiccup aggressively.

An older Spike-Flinger male shambled through the flock, stopping in front of Stormfly. His green scales were chipped and faded with age and his wings were ragged, but he moved with the energy of a hatchling.

"_**Hatchling,"**_ the old male said happily. "_**Raggedwing hatchling return!"**_

Hiccup beamed at the old male. He couldn't remember Raggedwing, but he was still happy to see him.

"_**Strongwing comes,"**_ Swiftwing called, stepping back.

A large Spike-Flinger with brilliantly colored scales walked forward. From his size and the way the other dragons bowed, he must have been the leader of the group. Hiccup bowed his head respectfully.

Strongwing studied Hiccup on Stormfly's back. "_**Name?"**_

Hiccup tilted his head slightly. "_**Hiccup."**_

"_**Stormfly," **_Stormfly supplied, lowering her head further.

"_**Hiccup not Spike-Flinger,"**_ Strongwing said.

Hiccup looked at himself, though he'd already determined that. He couldn't come up with the type of dragon his was, just that he was one.

"_**Hiccup hatchling,"**_ Raggedwing said, claiming Hiccup as his.

Strongwing snorted and sat back. "_**Prove worth."**_

Prove himself? How?

Hiccup cocked his head, considering. His first thought was to show off his talent at flight, but that hadn't gone so well when he tried the first time. Fighting? No, the smallest hatchling was his size, and Hiccup lacked proper talons and fangs anyway. Maybe he could do something special…

Hiccup looked around for an idea, then his eyes landed on a stray stick from one of the nests. He chirped happily, then leaped from Stormfly's back. His paws skidded out from under him upon landing, earning dismissive snorts from the surrounding Spike-Flingers that he ignored.

Hiccup bounded to the stick. He reached out with a paw, then paused. What was he doing? Instead, he ducked his head and picked up the stick in his mouth. He turned to make sure Strongwing was still watching, then went to work.

It took longer than Hiccup thought and he had splinters in his tongue, but he was happy with the result of his drawing when he spit the stick out. He turned to face Strongwing, who was watching from the opposite end of the drawing.

Strongwing watched Hiccup for a minute, then rose. He stepped closer, right onto one of the drawing's lines.

Without thinking, Hiccup growled. Strongwing snarled back. Remembering who it was, Hiccup fell quiet and shrunk back.

Strongwing was silent for a minute, then began to churr.

"_**Funny hatchling,"**_ Strongwing said.

Hiccup perked up. "_**Hiccup stay?"**_

Strongwing huffed and turned away. "_**Yes."**_

Stormfly chirped happily. Hiccup glanced at her, briefly mad that she hadn't had to prove herself, but was too happy to be allowed to stay.

The other Spike-Flingers immediately accepted their leader's decision. They crowded around the new flock members, giving names and asking questions that mostly revolved around Hiccup.

"_**Wind-Rider,"**_ Stormfly supplied when Hiccup couldn't figure out what type of dragon he was.

Hiccup cooed his thanks to Stormfly, who only churred at her secret joke. Hiccup shook his head at her and pushed her muzzle.

Once the introductions were done, Strongwing roared.

"_**Hunt!"**_

The flock roared, Hiccup doing his best to join in. Then, the flock took off from the roost one-by-one. Hiccup and some of the younger hatchlings climbed onto the backs of older dragons for the flight.

* * *

Astrid was tense with anger by the time Toothless arrived at Hiccup's hut. She swung silently out of the saddle. Toothless gave a soft roar and caught the attention of Fishlegs, who was searching on the second level.

"Astrid, Toothless!" Fishlegs called. "I take it you didn't find Hiccup?"

"Oh, we found Hiccup alright," Astrid all but growled. She stomped over to the wall and jerked down a spare prosthetic tailfin.

Fishlegs froze, then tentatively asked, "What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened!" Astrid burst out. She started replacing the busted tailfin in harsh, jerky movements. "Hiccup's lost his mind! He wouldn't say a word, at least not in Norse! He growled and roared, and walked on all fours. He was acting like a dragon!"

"I...I guess that isn't so impossible to believe," Fishlegs said. "He did hit his head. Anything can happen. Why didn't you bring him back?"

Astrid snorted. "Because he has Stormfly on his side!"

"Ohhh." Fishlegs hummed. "Well, we do know that our dragons -mainly Hookfang- will ignore their Riders when it comes to other dragons. And if Hiccup acted like a dragon, Stormfly's giving him dragon _and_ Rider loyalty. He did free her back on Berk, remember?"

"I know that!" Astrid yelled, throwing her hands up. "But now she's refusing to let us bring Hiccup anywhere that he doesn't want to go!"

"You found Hiccup?" came Tuffnut's voice.

Astrid turned to see the twins walk into the den. Barf poked his head in, but quickly retreated.

"It's a long story," Astrid responded through gritted teeth.

"If Hiccup is acting like a wild dragon, why not treat him like a wild dragon?" Fishlegs said, walking down to the ground level.

"Wait, wait, this is too good to be true." Wearing a huge grin, Snotlout entered the hut. "Dragon boy thinks he's a dragon. Oh, boy, I can't wait to see this."

"If you saw him now, he'd rip your face off," Astrid said drily.

That made Snotlout pause. Astrid turned her back to him.

"If we can get Hiccup here, can you fix him?" Astrid asked.

"I'm not sure," Fishlegs said uncomfortably. "All I've ever read about strange behavior after a head injury indicates that it will go away on its own."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then we'd… have to take him to Gothi. She might know how to fix him." Fishlegs shrugged. "But if we brought him back to someplace familiar, it should jog his memories. All we have to do is get him away from Stormfly."

"What? Does Stormfly think Hiccup is a dragon, too?" Ruffnut snickered.

"Basically," Fishlegs said.

The twins stopped laughing and looked at each other. After a moment, Tuffnut spoke up.

"What exactly has happened to Hiccup since we last saw him?"

"Nothing, besides the way he acts," Fishlegs said.

"We might not have to separate Hiccup and Stormfly," Astrid said thoughtfully.

"Didn't you just say-"

"Stormfly only acted aggressively when Hiccup did. If we can keep Hiccup calm enough, Stormfly should be fine. She has to know that we're helping Hiccup. She nearly brought Hiccup back to the Clubhouse, but Hiccup saw Toothless sneaking up on them and freaked out."

"Why did Hiccup freak out when he saw Toothless?" Fishlegs asked, changing the topic. "They're best friends!"

"Hiccup doesn't remember that he's human, you really expect him to remember Toothless is his friend when a human is with him?" Ruffnut said.

Toothless gave an annoyed grumbled, but Astrid had to admit that Ruffnut had a point. If Hiccup was so far gone to think that he was a dragon, his forgetting Toothless was the least of their problems. Especially when Tuffnut made another point.

"You don't think he'd try to fly, do you?"

Astrid was about to snap that that was ridiculous, then paused. "Oh, Thor. That's it, we need to find Hiccup first, _then_ we'll decide what to do about him."

"So, Hiccup won't recognize us, will probably fight us, and Stormfly is protecting him like she thinks he's her baby," Snotlout summed up.

"Pretty much," Astrid said, mounting Toothless. "Now, come on. Let's find Hiccup before anything worse happens to him."

* * *

**A/N: We all know something crazy is going to follow. New character joining this insanity in the next chapter!**


	4. Hunters

**A/N: Introducing: the hunters! **

**Response to Random Fan: Nope. But Hiccup and Stormfly are thrilled! XD Oh, he's gonna sure try, but please don't run away! Stormfly's going to make sure nothing bad happens to him! Don't worry, there will be no dying in this story. XD**

* * *

Heather closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She ran her hands down Windshear's smooth scales and exhaled slowly.

Heather loved her brother, but sometimes she just needed a break from him. She was pretty sure he'd only gotten crazier since joining up with Viggo and Ryker, and the brothers had her on edge all the time. Luckily, this trip was without either brother, or else Heather might have ditched the entire crew for good.

Sighing, Heather opened her eyes. She'd never leave Dagur, no matter how crazy things got. She hadn't known about her brother until a few months ago, but there was a strong sibling bond between them already.

Motion from the left distracted Heather. She turned and squinted at what appeared to be a wild flock of dragons.

"Let's try to get closer," Heather urged Windshear.

Windshear, as curious about the wild dragons as her Rider, eagerly complied. Heather pressed herself against Windshear's neck, so the sight of her wouldn't spook the wild dragons.

As they got closer, Heather realized that the flock were Edge Nadders. There were at least twenty of them of all sizes. Seeing smaller shapes gliding from between the backs of the older dragons, Heather pulled Windshear into a hover. If there were hatchlings, the Nadders would be especially territorial.

While Heather studied the flock, she saw one of the Nadders had different colored scales. It was less bright than the others, with dull blue scales.

"Is that Stormfly?" Heather murmured.

Sure, it could be any other Deadly Nadder who had joined the flock of Edge Nadders, but Heather was still thinking of Stormfly. The fact that they were less than a day's flight from the Edge made Heather wonder as well.

"We can work with that," Heather told Windshear. "Chasing after some dragons and Riders will get Dagur back into a good mood."

Windshear gave an uncertain growl.

"Don't worry about it," Heather said positively. "If that's Astrid and Stormfly out there, they'll see us coming and get the flock to safety."

Windshear rumbled and wheeled back toward Dagur's ship.

* * *

Hiccup now knew why he was a Wind-Rider. As it turned out, his wings weren't for flying, but for gliding. Alongside the hatchlings getting the hang of flying, Hiccup glided along the backs of the older Spike-Flingers

While Hiccup and the hatchlings played, some of the older Spike-Flingers fished. They passed the fish around for all the dragons, and the flock ate while hovering.

Hiccup took a break from his gliding to sit on Stormfly's back to eat. He happily took a big bite of the fish, then abruptly gagged when he tried to swallow. His body twitched inward, but he forced himself to swallow before he choked the fish out.

"_**Hiccup okay?"**_ Stormfly asked, turning her head.

"_**Yes… fish choked Hiccup."**_ Hiccup stared at the fish in confusion.

Stormfly chirped uncertainly.

Hiccup twitched his forelegs in a shrug and raised the fish. A warning roar distracted him before he could take another bite, though.

A gleaming Click-Wing was coming up to the flock from the direction of the island. Strongwing flew to the front of the group and roared a challenge while the rest of the flock bunched protectively together.

The Click-Wing paused to hover a short distance away. She seemed friendly enough, Hiccup thought, watching her. Then something rose on her back.

"_**Human!"**_ roared a black-speckled Spike-Flinger named Darktalon.

"_**Hunters!"**_ Stormfly roared at the same time.

Darktalon raced aggressively forward, flanked by the twin Spike-Flingers Clawwing and Wingclaw. Strongwing roared loudly and flared his impressive wings, while the Spike-Flingers carrying hatchlings turned to flee to safety. They halted quickly, roaring in distress.

More humans were gathered on a floating… den? Hiccup couldn't find a name for it, but they were getting close!

"_**Scatter!" **_Strongwing roared when he saw the new threat.

Swiftwing and Nightrise paused only long enough for their hatchlings to scramble to Raggedwing's back, then they dove at the odd den. They veered off as long, silver vines flew from the den. Swiftwing was quick enough, but Nightrise was entangled in the vines and swiftly dragged down.

Swiftwing dove after her and grabbed her friend. She pumped her wings, keeping them both airborne.

Then, sticks came flying from odd-shaped objects held by the humans. They struck Swiftwing and a couple other Spike-Flingers who were diving. The sticks shouldn't have hurt them that much, but within seconds of being hit, the Spike-Flingers' wings sagged and they dropped from the sky.

"_**Stormfly! Help!" **_Hiccup cried. Stormfly had hung back while the flock scattered, and both her and Hiccup wanted to join in fighting.

Stormfly hesitated, then growled. "_**Low, Hiccup. Hold."**_

Understanding, Hiccup laid against Stormfly's neck. He curled legs under her wing joins, using her rough skin for firm pawholds. Once he was secure, Stormfly tucked in her wings and dove.

Stormfly blasted the den with fire, but all that happened was that the surface turned black. She swerved to avoid more of the sticks, then threw some spikes in return. The humans threw themselves to the ground, some even leaping clear off the den and into the water!

Hiccup churred happily at the chaos Stormfly had caused. Then his eyes fell on the limp Spike-Flingers on the den's floor.

"_**Flock members… dead?"**_ Hiccup squawked.

"_**No. Sleep," **_Stormfly reassured him. "_**Flock free friends."**_

Stormfly abruptly jerked back as one of the vines shot past her snout. There was a whistling sound, then Stormfly twitched.

"_**Stormfly?"**_ Hiccup asked. Stormfly's wingbeats faltered. "_**Stormfly!"**_

Stormfly squawked and made a visible effort to flap harder, but they were still falling! Stormfly crashed into the den's floor, making Hiccup smack his muzzle on her neck.

Clamping his jaws against a yelp, Hiccup raised his head. The humans that Stormfly had called Hunters were looking at the sky, no longer attacking as the remainders of the flock flew out of reach. They spoke to each other, though Hiccup couldn't understand what they said.

The Hunters parted for a single human, giving him the same response as the flock gave Strongwing. The leader wasn't any bigger than the other humans, and had orange fur on his head and face. His brown and gray scales seemed kind of mismatched. He had a marking on his face that looked like a scar, but it was blue.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes and drew his lips back in a snarl as the leader yelled triumphantly to the Hunters. Then, the leader turned and strutted toward where Stormfly and the other sleeping Spike-Flingers laid.

Hiccup couldn't take it any longer. He leaped on top of Stormfly's head and roared a challenge.

The leader jumped and paused, then bared his teeth in an amused way. He said something, gesturing broadly.

Hiccup still couldn't understand him, and he didn't care. He pounced, tackling the leader.

The leader made startled sounds and flailed around Hiccup's scratching claws before being able to react. He hit Hiccup with a forepaw, winding him, then the leader kicked Hiccup away.

Hiccup tumbled and rolled to a stop beside Stormfly's jaw. He shook his head, then flipped onto his paws with a defiant snarl.

The leader of the humans paused, an odd expression on his muzzle. He said something questioningly, to which Hiccup growled.

Hiccup tensed to leap again, then something stung his foreleg. He jumped and yelped. Looking down, he saw a very small stick poking between his scales. He angrily brushed it off, then faced the human leader.

Before Hiccup could move again, his vision tilted. His paws skittered to correct when his body angled to the side, but got tangled in each other. Hiccup collapsed on his side, an odd weariness filling him. He blinked heavily, just the effort of keeping his eyes open becoming too much. He gave one last snarl, then sank into darkness.

* * *

**A/N: I love the interactions between Hiccup and Dagur, so how would Dagur respond to dragon boy Hiccup?**


	5. A Search and Discovery

**A/N: I have no idea what my schedule will be tomorrow, so I'm posting this a day early!**

**To everyone I told this fic wouldn't have any interaction between feral!Hiccup and the other Riders, forget I said that. Back when I was writing this story, I was getting tired of it and the time it was taking from stories I was posting at the time, so I threw the ending together. I was never fond of it and wanted to change it, and everyone's enjoyment of this story prompted me to fix the ending! So, you've all been amazingly helpful without even trying. 0w0**

**Response to Random Fan: Hiccup is going to have this hanging over his head for years to come. XD Panic. A whole lot of panic. I guess I'll see you when I see you (figuratively). Just stay away from cliffs, 'kay?**

* * *

Heather was panting as she slowly lowered the blowgun from her mouth. Her eyes never left the unconscious form sprawled in front of the dragons.

Hiccup? Alone and riding Stormfly? Heather didn't see Stormfly's saddle, and none of the other Riders had shown up. Not to mention Hiccup's odd behavior!

Heather's intent had been to "accidentally" spook the flock of Nadders so they had plenty of time to flee, but Dagur's ship had come up too fast and the flock hadn't noticed Windshear as quickly as Heather had planned. After the first couple dragons fell, Heather had noticed Stormfly attacking the boat and left her station to help.

Before she could do anything, Stormfly had been hit with a dragon root arrow. Windshear had landed on the upper deck in time to see Hiccup launch himself at Dagur. It was so unlike Hiccup that it had taken everyone a moment to react. When Hiccup had continued to act so… wild, Heather had been forced to use her sleeping darts -souvenirs from a secret little island she'd discovered a few months back- before someone really got hurt.

After a silent moment passed, Heather shook off her shock and ran to the main deck. She joined Dagur, who was at a loss for words for once.

"What just happened?" Heather finally asked.

Dagur threw his arms up. "Ask Hiccup! I think he's spent a little too much time around dragons. He thinks he is one!" Dagur smirked.

"It might just be a ruse," Heather said, scanning the sky. "We should get moving before the others show up."

"Well, let them come!" Dagur yelled at the empty sky. "Their plan failed and now we have their precious leader!" Dagur swiveled on his heel, voice dropping to his normal -still yelling- tones. "Well, why are you just standing around? Get these dragons into the cages and get this ship moving! The rest of the fleet's waiting!"

The crew jumped into action and started moving the dragons. They all gave Hiccup a wide berth, eyeing him like he might leap up and attack them.

"I'll lock up Hiccup below," Heather offered, seeing that Dagur was still focused on the sky. "I'll let you know when he wakes up."

Dagur waved her off, uninterested in his "brother" just then. Heather shrugged and called to a Hunter.

"Lars number one, help me with him."

Lars number one, a quiet Hunter, joined Heather beside Hiccup. He grabbed Hiccup's legs, and Heather looped her hands under Hiccup's shoulders. When the pair picked up Hiccup, Heather wondered at the light weight of him.

"Careful," Heather said firmly. "Dagur doesn't want him hurt."

Dagur probably wouldn't have cared too much if Hiccup was jarred around a bit, but Heather sure did. And from the scratches on his arms and dried blood in his hair, Hiccup had already been through some ordeal.

* * *

"Last I saw Hiccup, he was here," Astrid said as the Riders landed outside the small cave. "I don't know which way Stormfly flew, though."

"We can assume that they continued heading west," Fishlegs said.

"What if they went a different way to throw us off?" Snotlout asked not-so-helpfully.

"Hiccup had to have been going west for a reason," Fishlegs answered. "And what's to the west?"

"Trees," Ruffnut supplied.

"Rocks," Tuffnut said.

"Grass."

"Hi-"

"The Edge Nadder roost!" Astrid realized.

"And here I thought our biggest concern was dragon boy trying to fly," Snotlout said.

Astrid had her axe out and pointed at Snotlout in one blurred motion. "Call him 'dragon boy' one more time, and I'm calling you dragon food!"

Snotlout made the wise decision of not responding. He quickly put some distance -and Hookfang- between him and Astrid.

"We don't have any time to waste," Fishlegs interrupted. "If Hiccup really is headed for the roost, we might have to rescue him from the Nadders."

"But… if Hiccup acts like a dragon, I really don't think the Nadders would attack him," Ruffnut said.

"Brilliant idea," Astrid said drily. "So next time we face an angry dragon, we should crawl on all fours and growl."

"Yeah, that didn't work so well for Ruff last time," Tuffnut said with a snicker.

"It might work," Fishlegs admitted while the Riders mounted. "If Hiccup didn't act like a threat and has Stormfly with him, the Edge Nadders might be curious enough to not hurt him."

"They've tried to hurt him in the past," Astrid argued.

"Yes, but Hiccup also didn't have time to get close without Toothless coming to defend him," Fishlegs said.

Toothless gave a warning growl.

"I'm not blaming you," Fishlegs hurried to add. "I'm just saying that they might respond better to another Nadder than an angry Night Fury."

Toothless grumbled and launched.

* * *

The Riders quickly reached the roost, which appeared to be abandoned. Toothless landed lightly on the stone wall, then crept to the edge.

"They probably went fishing," Astrid murmured, peering over the edge of the rock wall.

"Which means they'll be back-" Fishlegs broke off. He squinted, then pointed below. "Is that a… drawing?"

The Riders looked at what Fishlegs was pointing. It did look like a small drawing in the dirt. It held the vague shape of a dragon with two legs, wide-spread wings, and a spiky head.

"Hiccup was definitely here," Astrid deadpanned. "Who else would draw a Nadder in a Nadder roost?"

Toothless churred, pleased. He'd been so amused by Hiccup's drawing when they met that he had mimicked it. His little talent was sometimes put to use when he and Hiccup met new dragons, as the drawing amused dragons.

Roaring caught Toothless' attention. He jerked his head up to see the Nadder flock headed back to the roost.

"Uh, we'd better go now!" Fishlegs said.

Toothless agreed with the jumpy Viking. He tensed to leap into the sky, then paused when he realized what the flock was saying.

"_**Hunters!"**_

"_**Humans! Humans fight!"**_

"_**Where Nightrise?!"**_

Toothless planted his paws, and the other Riders' dragons did the same. The Riders cried out and ducked low as the flock approached, but were ignored. The panicked flock flew right over the group without noticing them.

Toothless scanned the flock for Stormfly and his Rider, but didn't catch sight of either. He turned his head back toward the open ocean, snarling when he saw the distant form of a Hunter ship.

"Well… there goes the flock," Astrid said, lifting herself up. She tensed. "And there's the hunters."

"You don't think Hiccup…" Fishlegs trailed off.

"Hiccup was definitely here," Astrid said, sighing. "And right in the head or not, Hiccup wouldn't leave dragons in distress."

Snotlout heaved a sigh, rolling his eyes to the sky. "Come on, let's go save dra- er, Hiccup and Stormfly from the Hunters."

* * *

"Let's put him in here," Heather said, indicating with her head the cell furthest from the stairs.

Lars number one nodded and helped carry Hiccup into the cell. They laid him on the floor near the bars, then left.

"Go back to moving the dragons," Heather ordered as she closed the cell door. "I'll watch him."

Lars number one nodded and moved away. Heather left briefly to grab a bucket of water and a rag, then returned to the cell.

She was startled to find Windshear crouched outside Stormfly's cell. Her dragon didn't usually like to be around the caged dragons, but seemed determined to keep Stormfly company while she recovered.

"It'll be okay, girl," Heather whispered so no one but Windshear could hear.

She didn't know what had happened, but she was going to do her best to get Hiccup and the dragons free.

Heather pulled a stool up against the bars and set down the bucket. Keeping an eye out for Dagur or curious Hunters, Heather swiftly cleaned Hiccup's bloodied hair. By the time she finished, Hiccup was stirring.

Heather set the bucket and rag aside. She moved the stool back and waited. After a moment, Hiccup laid still. Heather watched him a bit longer, but he didn't appear to be conscious yet.

While she was waiting, Heather stood and picked up the bucket. She set it in the corner to dump later, then turned. She froze.

Emerald green eyes stared back at her, gleaming in the dim light.

Heather shook her head slightly and straightened. "Hiccup."

Hiccup didn't move, only continued to stare intently at her. Really, it was getting unnerving. His eyes had a… wildness to them.

"Hiccup?" Heather tried again. She took a step closer. "Hiccup, what are you-"

A growl stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes flicked down the hall, but the growl was coming from the cell in front of her. Very slowly, she took another step.

Hiccup drew his lips back, his growl rising in volume. His eyes narrowed.

"This isn't a game, Hiccup," Heather said, stepping right up to the bars.

The next second, Heather leaped back to avoid Hiccup's hands lashing out. His fingers fell short and, in his rush, Hiccup slammed his face into the bars. Hiccup clutched his face in his hands, growl turning into a whine.

Heather blinked at Hiccup, crouched on the floor with a miserable expression on his face. A second later, though, Hiccup realized that he was still being watched. He lowered his hands and started to growl again.

"What in Thor's name…" Heather murmured.

Remaining on all fours, Hiccup backed from the bars, never quieting his growls. His eyes darted around the cage. His hands started to paw at the floor.

He was acting like a trapped dragon. Exactly like one.

Heather backed away, stumbling over the stool. She crashed to the floor, the sound sending Hiccup into a frenzy.

Hiccup's eyes shot wide open. He spun and ran into the back wall, losing his balance and sprawling on the floor. Hiccup scrambled back to all fours and threw his head back to give a long, loud roar of distress that echoed through the hold.

Thumps came from the cages along the hall. Heather turned quickly as the groggy Nadders staggered to their paws and roared back.

Above it all, a high-pitched shriek from outside the ship answered them all.

* * *

**A/N: If you didn't get the "Lars number one" joke, I'm referring to the Edge of Disaster episodes. XD**

**Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!**


	6. How to Train Your Hiccup

**A/N: This is probably my favorite chapter of all! XD Dagur is absurdly fun to write, even more so when he's faced with his dragon "brother."**

**Response to Random Fan: Nope, but Heather sure can hope! Welcome back!**

* * *

The Riders swiftly approached the Hunter ship from above, using the clouds for cover. The Hunters on the ship were unaware of the Riders flying above them.

Astrid smiled to herself, then turned to Fishlegs. He'd been putting a plan together during the flight.

"Okay, so there's just one ship," Fishlegs mused. He eyed the rest of the fleet headed in the direction of the single ship "We'll have to strike fast and silent-"

Whatever else Fishlegs had to say was cut off when a roar cut through the air. Astrid threw a glare at Snotlout, who raised his hands innocently and pointed at Astrid.

It was then that Astrid realized the cry had come from Toothless.

With no further warning, Toothless threw himself into a dive. Astrid nearly fell from the saddle, but just managed to grab on as Toothless raced for the ship.

"Toothless, wait!" Astrid yelled to no avail.

Toothless pulled up impossibly close to the deck, causing several Hunters to leap from the deck into the water. Toothless thudded to the deck and knocked the remaining Hunters away with his tail. He roared angrily, and a chorus of roars came from below the deck.

"Okay, you watch my back," Astrid said. She slid to the deck. "I'll get Hiccup and-"

"Ah, no, no, I don't think so," Dagur said, strolling from the cabin.

Toothless crouched and gave a savage snarl. Astrid thought that Toothless wouldn't have any qualms about killing Dagur if the Berserker didn't get out of her way.

"I'm not leaving without Hiccup," Astrid said, pulling out her axe.

Dagur lifted his own axe. "Oh, yeah? Just try."

"Hiccup's not here," Heather said drily, coming onto the deck from below between Astrid and Dagur. "All we have is a dragon-boy."

Heather raised her eyebrow at Astrid, who narrowed her eyes and nodded slightly. She knew about Hiccup's antics. So, he hadn't snapped out of it yet.

Dagur gave one of his slightly insane laughs. "Yeah, have you seen Hiccup recently? I have to say, crazy is a good look on him."

Astrid's grip on her axe tightened. Where were the other Riders? While she could hold her own against the siblings -maybe- they didn't have time to waste.

_Boom!_

They didn't have any time, actually. Astrid looked quickly to the side and saw that the other Riders were busy with the rest of Dagur's fleet. She returned her glare to Dagur, then took a step back.

Heather and Dagur didn't seem to know what to make of her retreat, and Astrid took advantage of their hesitation. She swung onto Toothless' back, murmuring to him.

"Let's go, Toothless."

Toothless growled incredulously.

"We'll come back, I promise, but we need the others," Astrid pleaded quietly. "Hiccup will be okay."

Toothless snarled, eyes darting from the hall behind Heather to the Berserker siblings to the battling dragons nearby.

Barf and Belch were tangled in a chain, slowly being dragged down. Meatlug was doing her best to free the dragon, while Hookfang battled the five other ships alone. They wouldn't last long.

Toothless bellowed and spun. His tail knocked Dagur into the rail and barely missed Heather as she ducked down the stairwell. Toothless bounded into the air, wings pumping furiously.

Meatlug saw Toothless coming and flew away from the deck. With uncharacteristic recklessness, Toothless rammed his head into a ballista on the deck. It was ripped from the deck and skidded away, forcing the Hunters to leap for cover. The chains around Barf and Belch were released, allowing the two-headed dragon to shake free.

"Get out of range!" Astrid yelled to the Riders.

The dragons turned up and sped for the clouds, weaving and dodging arrows and chains. They didn't stop until they were once again behind the cover of the clouds, far out of reach.

The dragons hovered for a minute, panting from the short battle. The Riders were inwardly shaken by the close call but, in true Viking fashion, hid it from each other.

Astrid stared down at the fleet through gaps in the clouds. Her hands clenched into fists as she thought about having to leave Hiccup. He was hurt and alone, and she'd _abandoned _him.

"Where's Hiccup?" Fishlegs finally asked.

"He was being guarded by Heather and Dagur," Astrid almost growled. "I had to choose… Hiccup or you guys."

The Riders were silent. Astrid saw them exchanging nervous looks and made herself relax her hands.

"It would be pointless to rescue Hiccup if the rest of you got captured as well," Astrid said. She sighed. "But we are going back for Hiccup."

"Let's just dive-flame them!" Tuffnut suggested enthusiastically.

"No. They know we're here and they'll be ready," Astrid said. "Besides, we can't just sink their ships. Hiccup's on one, and so are captured dragons."

"Either way, we'll be attacking them directly," Fishlegs said. "We'll have better chances if Hookfang and Toothless have their armor to protect them from dragon root arrows."

"If we leave now, we'll lose the ships," Astrid said, shaking her head.

"You and Snotlout go back to the Edge and get the armor," Fishlegs said. "The twins and I will keep an eye on the fleet."

Astrid hesitated. "Will Hiccup be okay for that long?"

Snotlout snorted. "Puh-lease, this is Hiccup we're talking about. He'll probably rescue himself before we can and find some way to fly off the ship. Dagur'll never know what hit him."

An unexpected laugh escaped Astrid. Toothless grumbled and glared sideways at her.

"I was just thinking…" Astrid smirked. "Hiccup still thinks he's a dragon. I wish I could have seen Dagur's face when he found that out."

* * *

"Huh. That went faster than I thought it would," Dagur said, sounding disappointed.

Heather rolled her eyes and crossed her arms while Dagur stood up. Dagur stretched, creating a disturbing _pop_ in the middle of his back.

"We've got bigger problems," Heather said, waving Dagur to follow.

Heather went below. Dagur yelled at the Hunters to get out of the water and get the ship moving, then followed. Heather silently led the way to Hiccup's cell and waited for Dagur.

Hiccup had stopped his roaring at some point, as had the captive Nadders. Hiccup was curled tightly in a far corner, green eyes focused on Heather.

"Oh, he's awake!" Dagur said. He paused when Hiccup growled.

"I wasn't joking about catching a dragon-boy," Heather said. "He hasn't said a word, and I think he called the Riders to us."

An expression that was an odd mixture of awe, confusion, and anger rose on Dagur's face. He blinked, opened his mouth, then closed it. For the second time, Hiccup had struck him speechless.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Dagur finally said. "What's the point of gloating when he doesn't understand me? Wait, does he understand?"

"He doesn't respond to his name," Heather said, shrugging.

"Hic-cup. Can. You. Under-stand. Me?" Dagur asked, dramatizing each syllable.

Hiccup's only response was a growl.

"Are you sure this isn't just some trick of theirs?" Dagur asked, stepping up close to the bars to study Hiccup.

"I'm sure. That Night Fury…" Heather inwardly shuddered, thinking of the murderous glare in Toothless' eyes. "He was rescuing his Rider."

"The others will be back soon," Dagur mused.

"Why don't you prepare the fleet to capture them, then we can deal with him," Heather suggested.

"Good idea!" Dagur said.

Dagur's proclamation seemed to startle Hiccup. The scrawny Viking tumbled forward, then bounded to crouch on all fours. His feral eyes darted between the siblings.

"That." Dagur jutted a finger into the cell for emphasis. "Is crazier than my reflection."

Heather jerked Dagur back as Hiccup lunged. Hiccup's teeth snapped shut inches from Dagur's finger.

"And I don't think it's a trick," Heather murmured.

Dagur was staring at his finger, as if he was making sure it was still intact. "Either that, or a really good one."

Heather didn't think anyone could fake the wild panic of an injured and cornered dragon that well, but left Dagur's statement. He had to see it as well, he was just thinking out loud.

"Well, what can we do with him now?" Dagur asked, lowering his hand.

"I guess Viggo will want to see him," Heather said.

"Do we have to?" Dagur whined.

Heather shrugged. "It's two days trip back to his base. You'll come up with something by then."

Dagur's expression switched with its usual lack of warning. He beamed at the realization that he had a couple days to plan. He studied Hiccup for a bit longer, then turned and walked away.

Heather stared at the still-growling Hiccup, then set the stool upright and sat down. She waited silently until Hiccup's growls trailed off.

"Hey," Heather said in a low voice.

Hiccup blinked at her and shifted his hands.

Heather hummed quietly to herself. So, Hiccup was acting like a wild dragon. She had many questions about that -specifically _how_ and _why_\- but she figured she wouldn't get answers to that anytime soon. She was more concerned about what to do now.

An idea came to her. If she could get Hiccup to trust her enough, she… could let him out. If all the cells were conveniently unlocked and Hiccup happened to get out… it would be easy to convince Dagur that Hiccup really had been faking his actions. But, that plan wouldn't work if Hiccup freaked and attacked everyone.

Heather eyed the nearby cell, where Stormfly crouched. Thor, she could just unlock the cells and leave Hiccup to Stormfly.

But… where would the fun be in that? Whether it was by the Riders or Heather herself, there was a pretty high chance that Hiccup and the dragons would be long gone by the time they reached Viggo.

Curiosity over this unique challenge encouraged Heather's decision. She stood up, ignoring Hiccup's snarl, and walked away to get some supplies. It was time to see if she could tame the famous dragon tamer.

* * *

Hiccup watched the human that Stormfly called Heather -why did Stormfly name the humans, anyway?- walked away.

Hiccup once again checked the den for a way out, but there wasn't any entrances. He tried squeezing between the straight, smooth sticks, but couldn't get his head through.

Approaching pawsteps made him quickly move from the sticks to the solid back wall of the den. Heather walked into view and sat on the wood chunk outside the den. She held something in her forepaws that released a delicious smell…

Hiccup's stomach growled. He was still hungry, having only had the one bite of fish.

The noise only caused Heather to make the pleased show of her teeth. She spoke, then threw something toward Hiccup.

Hiccup leaped away. From the corner of the den, he studied the thing that Heather had thrown at him. After glancing at Heather, Hiccup crept forward. He sniffed deeply, then realized what it was when he saw it up close.

It was a piece of fish. It was blackened and had green flecks on it, but it smelled really good.

Hiccup looked at Heather. She watched him, then lifted her own piece of fish to her mouth and ate it.

Without taking his eyes off Heather, Hiccup lowered his head. He carefully picked up the fish in his mouth, then flicked his head back to drop the fish into his mouth. He chewed hesitantly at first, then quicker when he tasted the deliciously warm juices. He swallowed and couldn't help but coo in pleasure.

An amused sound reminded Hiccup that he was being watched. He glared at Heather, but didn't growl. This human wasn't attacking him or being loud, maybe she wasn't so bad…

Heather throwing another piece of fish certainly helped Hiccup's opinion on her.

Hiccup quickly ate the fish, then lifted his head to see another piece sitting just out of reach. He stepped forward and ate the piece, grimacing at a piece of dirt that had stuck to it. He swallowed the fish, though, dirt and all, then sniffed out the next piece.

A few pieces later, Hiccup found the latest piece of fish appearing to float in front of him. He opened his mouth to take it without thinking, then stiffened when he saw the reason.

Heather had moved to crouch on the ground and was holding the fish between the sticks with her paw.

Hiccup rocked back with a growl. Heather's stance didn't change; she just waited with her eyes turned low. Gradually, Hiccup relaxed and stepped back up to her paw. He delicately reached out and grabbed the piece of fish in his mouth. Heather let go. Hiccup twitched the fish into his mouth, but didn't chew.

Heather withdrew her paw and simply watched Hiccup. Hiccup stared back, then came to a decision.

Stepping forward, he lowered his head close to the sticks, then spat out the piece of fish. He sat back and cooed at Heather, pleased.

Heather had an odd look on her muzzle, and she didn't touch the fish. Hiccup huffed and gestured with his muzzle toward the fish.

"_**Heather fish,"**_ Hiccup said.

Heather gave a reluctant growl and reached out to pick up the fish between two of her claws. She pulled it closer, but just held it. Hiccup gestured impatiently.

_Snap!_

In a blur of silver scales, the Click-Wing jumped into view and snatched up the piece of fish to eat for herself. Hiccup leaped to his paws with an infuriated roar.

"_**Heather fish!" **_

"_**Windshear fish," **_the Click-Wing said contentedly.

Hiccup growled, angry at Windshear for taking his gift to Heather.

Heather said something in a soothing tone. She took another piece of fish from a smooth stone one her lap and ate it, then gave a piece to Windshear before offering a third piece to Hiccup.

"_**Wrong way,"**_ Hiccup grumbled, but took the fish from Heather and ate it.

Heather made her pleased sound again. She put the empty stone beside her, then stared at Hiccup again.

Since she didn't mean him harm and was out of fish, Hiccup soon lost interest in her. He returned to studying the walls and pawing at cracks. There had to be _some_ way out!

A squeak from behind made Hiccup spin. Heather was standing inside the small den! An opening that definitely hadn't been there before was behind her but, as Hiccup watched, she pulled on a portion of the sticks, and the opening closed.

"_**Both stuck," **_Hiccup grumbled.

Looking at Heather, Hiccup realized she was nervous from her stiff stance and her quick breathing. It put him on edge. He gave a nervous growl and backed away.

Heather made a soothing sound and breathed slowly out. Her stance relaxed and she took a step closer to Hiccup. He stiffened, but let her get closer until she stopped just out of reach. Hiccup stared curiously at Heather and waited.

Heather exhaled slowly and lifted a paw. She stretched it out in front of her, and lowered her head so she wasn't looking at Hiccup anymore. She then stilled, waiting.

Hiccup knew what she wanted, and didn't hesitate. He leaned forward, pressing his head against her paw.

* * *

**A/N: It's the hand thing! XD Anyway.**


	7. Two Insane Plans

**A/N: After writing the first paragraph of this chapter, I got stuck for probably a month. It was a fitting line to get stuck on, really. XD**

**Response to Random Fan: I enjoy _writing_ them! 0w0 Dagur going sane is really my only complaint for Race to the Edge. XD Crazy Dagur is fun Dagur. It is! 0w0 She learned from the best! **

* * *

Heather had absolutely no idea what she thought would happen, but Hiccup being on the receiving end of "the hand thing" wasn't it. And now that he was doing it, she didn't know where to go from there.

After a moment, Hiccup stepped away. He had a relaxed expression on his face, and his stance was loose as he plodded back to the cage wall. He continued his exploration of the wood, cooing softly when he found cracks.

"We have to get you back to the Edge," Heather whispered. She didn't want to think of what Viggo would do to Hiccup while he was like this.

Hiccup looked at Heather with a cocked head, making her laugh despite herself. He reminded her of her first time meeting Toothless.

Heather left the cell and returned to the stool to think. This new Hiccup was rather funny, but how in Thor's name was she supposed to get him away?

* * *

It was evening by the time Astrid and Snotlout returned with their dragons' gear.

"If we wait until it's dark, they'll never see us coming," Fishlegs said.

"They'll be expecting that," Astrid said, squinting at the distant ships.

"They'll expect us as long as they have Hiccup," Fishlegs pointed out.

"What if," Tuffnut started. "We _don't_ go after Hiccup?"

"We aren't leaving him!" Astrid yelled.

Tuffnut held up a hand. "I never said we were."

"What?"

Tuffnut grinned. "See? See! It works!"

"Tuffnut," Astrid growled. "Not funny."

"Oh, I wasn't being funny. I'm completely serious this time," Tuffnut said.

"Why does everyone think we can't be serious?" Ruffnut asked.

"Because you can't," Snotlout said. "That wasn't even a plan."

"But it is!" Tuffnut insisted. "The Hunters expect us to directly attack the ship holding Hiccup, so the other ships won't be as on guard…"

"We distract them by attacking the wrong ship!" Fishlegs realized. "If it's dark enough, they might think we don't know which ship Hiccup's on!"

"And Toothless and I can sneak onto Dagur's ship and free Hiccup," Astrid finished.

"Well, I was going to say take out all the other ships, then free Hiccup, but I guess that works," Tuffnut said.

"So we have a plan." Astrid glanced at the setting sun. "Once it's dark, we attack."

* * *

"Here's the plan," Heather whispered to Hiccup later in the day. "Once it's dark, all the cages get mysteriously unlocked. You get onto Stormfly and fly back to the Edge, okay?"

Hiccup, gnawing restlessly on his nails, didn't respond. He'd started acting really dull, sprawling on the floor and not making any more noises. Heather hoped he was just bored.

"Stormfly," Heather whispered, going to the Nadder's cage. "It's up to you. You need to get Hiccup out of here."

Stormfly, at least, squawked and scratched the floor.

Heather nodded. "Good. Once it's dark, I'll be back."

* * *

Hiccup watched Heather leave. He heaved a sigh. He was tired and his head still hurt, but the thumping and Hunter voices made him jumpy. Stormfly had told him that Heather was a friend, but the other humans were bad.

"_**Hiccup?"**_ Stormfly called.

"_**Hurt," **_Hiccup groaned back.

Stormfly cooed in concern. "_**Wait. Riders come."**_

"_**Riders?"**_

"_**Dragon friends. Like Heather. Astrid Rider."**_

"_**Astrid enemy," **_Hiccup growled.

"_**Friend. Hiccup see. Astrid help."**_

Hiccup grumbled, unconvinced. Astrid had been loud, pushy, and tried to take him from Stormfly.

Hiccup rose and paced around the small den. He sniffed where Heather had gone in and out, but couldn't figure out how to get the den open. He pawed at the sticks briefly, then went back to pacing.

"_**Hiccup?"**_

"_**Bad. Very bad. Need out."**_

"_**Patience, Hiccup. Heather free dragons."**_

Hiccup perked up. "_**Free?"**_

"_**Free. Soon. Wait."**_

Hiccup huffed out a sigh and sprawled on the ground to stare at the sticks.

* * *

Heather stood on the deck, watching the sky. It was dark; dark enough for the Nadders to make an escape. Only the patrols were on deck, and Dagur was hidden away in his cabin. Heather smiled and nodded. Time to put her plan into action.

Heather turned to the stairs, then an unmistakable roar broke the stillness. She spun in time to see one of the outermost ships get plasma blasted. Hunters yelled and rushed to put out the flames, then a second ship erupted into flames.

"Riders!" Heather yelled. "They're here for Hiccup!"

Hunters crashed onto deck and took their positions at the ballistas and ship railings with crossbows. Dagur ran onto deck, yelling at Hunters who hadn't reached their positions.

"I knew they'd come back!" Dagur yelled, eyes alight with the prospect of a fight.

Heather pulled out her axe, but none of the dragons were close to their ship. They seemed intent on attacking a trio of ships off to the left. Were they…

"They're attacking the wrong ships," Dagur said. He groaned. "Boy, without Hiccup, they are hopeless at this rescue thing." He shrugged. "Eh, just as well. Bring those dragons down, men!"

Heather leaned on the rail. The other Riders weren't that bad at rescues, right? Unless they intended to take out the whole fleet, but even then, wouldn't freeing Hiccup be the priority?

A flash of pitch black on the dark water caught Heather's eye. She glanced toward the shadow, but it was gone. She looked back to the ships under attack. It was too dark and the dragons moved too quickly, so she couldn't tell if the rest of the Riders were really in one place. Maybe some of them were creating a distraction, so…

Heather blinked. A distraction! Intentional or not, now was the perfect time to free Hiccup and the dragons!

"I'm going to make sure the dragons and Hiccup are secure," Heather said. "It would be just like Hiccup to break out while the Hunters are fighting the rest of the Riders."

"It would," Dagur agreed. "Keep an eye on them, I'm joining the fight over there!"

Heather grinned at her luck, matching Dagur's reckless grin. "I'll meet you there, brother. If the Riders see us, they'll think the wrong ship is holding Hiccup."

"You read my mind!" Dagur laughed insanely. "Come on, Riders! Is that the best you can do?!"

While Dagur vaulted onto the deck of the next ship, Heather raced for the stairs.

* * *

Clattering caught Hiccup's attention. He stood and went to the bars, where he saw Heather running down the path. She stopped at each den and did something that made an opening.

"_**Free!" **_Stormfly roared. "_**Escape, flock!"**_

The other dragons picked up the cry. Heather moved faster, making nervous, distressed noises. Windshear followed her, growling at any Spike-Flinger that tried to attack their rescuer.

Soon, Heather reached Hiccup's den. She opened his den as well and made frantic motions with her paws.

Hiccup crept to the opening. Heather crooned, then made a happy sound when Hiccup put a paw outside the den. Abruptly, Heather spun and ran back up the path.

"_**Free!"**_ the Spike-Flingers roared.

"_**Escape!" **_Stormfly roared. She stepped to Hiccup's den and dragged him fully into the path. "_**Run, flock! Fly! Free!"**_

"_**Follow!"**_ Windshear roared, waving a paw at the Spike-Flingers.

The Spike-Flingers tramped after Windshear. Hiccup, caught in the excitement, forgot his aching head to follow the flock.

Windshear led the flock down the narrow path toward a wider space. Hiccup started to follow, but stopped when he noticed an opening in the wood above him. A group of even platforms too narrow for the larger dragons led toward the opening.

"_**Way out!" **_Hiccup called to Stormfly.

"_**Hiccup, no!"**_

"_**See Stormfly outside!"**_

Hiccup bounded up the platforms and leaped out of the dark, still den into the open air.

Heather stood nearby, holding an odd object and watching fires burn in the distance. Some Hunters were running around, but no one noticed Hiccup.

"_**Heather!" **_Hiccup roared.

* * *

Heather spun at the unmistakable sound of Hiccup's dragon-roar imitation. She groaned upon seeing him on deck. Alone.

"Hiccup, go!" Heather hissed.

Hiccup cooed at her. Heather glanced around, groaning when the Hunters noticed Hiccup.

"The prisoner escaped!" a Hunter yelled.

Hiccup snarled. Heather looked quickly around. Where was Stormfly? Hiccup needed to get away before anyone realized he was still acting like a dragon.

A dragon crashed onto the deck, but it wasn't Stormfly. A furious Toothless threw Hunters overboard with a sweep of his tail and blasted the other Hunters off the ship.

"It was a trick!" Dagur yelled from two ships over.

Heather sighed, wondering if she should have seen that coming. She raised her axe as Astrid slid off Toothless.

Hiccup hadn't moved from the stairwell and Toothless had landed across from Heather, so the three of them formed a triangle with Hiccup an equal distance from the girls.

"Don't come any closer!" Heather yelled, angling her axe toward Hiccup. She glanced at Dagur making his way closer to their ship. "It's over, Astrid, give up!"

"Not by a long shot," Astrid said.

Crashing caught the girls' attention as the loading doors exploded open. Edge Nadders scrambled onto the deck.

"_Go, Hiccup!" _Heather thought frantically, pretending to be totally distracted by the escaping dragons. "_Go to Toothless and get out of here!"_

Hiccup stepped toward Heather.

Muttering curses and apologies under her breath, Heather threw her axe. It sliced into the deck, inches from Hiccup's hand.

Hiccup flinched away from the axe, pain and confusion filling his eyes. Stormfly leaped into the open, roaring. Hiccup roared back at her, expression switching to betrayal. While Heather and Astrid watched unsurely, Stormfly leaped toward Hiccup, but the boy rolled away. He gave a distressed roar and ran forward.

Heather tensed, pretending to be too afraid of Toothless to go after Hiccup. Astrid stepped forward, reaching for Hiccup…

Hiccup ducked under her hands, ran past them all and threw himself over the railing.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled.

Hiccup spread his arms and legs, stretching the fabric under his arms for makeshift wings that allowed him to glide across the water.

"What-" Heather started.

Toothless roared and grabbed the pedal on his saddle. Heather couldn't see what he did, but he then spun and leaped over the railing after Hiccup. Despite Toothless' unsteady flight, he quickly caught up to Hiccup. He snagged the boy in his paws, causing Hiccup to squawk and growl, then he swiftly turned toward land.

Back on deck, Heather and Astrid hadn't moved. Nadders launched behind them. A ship in the fleet exploded while two more burst into flame. Stormfly and Windshear went to their Rider and cooed.

It was Dagur, braced against the railing of the next ship over, who finally spoke. "What just happened?"


	8. Befriending Your Best Friend

**A/N: Apologies for the late hour. I keep forgetting today is Thursday.**

**The following chapters were written much more recently and, no, I have not finished the final chapters yet. -cue author panicking-**

**Anyway, who's ready for some more Toothless and dragon-boy Hiccup?**

**Response to Random Fan: Dagur might be the least confused in this whole fiasco, if nothing else because he thinks he knows what's going on and has no reason to question Hiccup's actions. Hiccup is at least in the right general area, but he's feeling very betrayed and alone. Hopefully Toothless can calm him down...**

* * *

Hiccup was not happy. And he wouldn't stop squirming!

Toothless had seen Hiccup lock his tailfin enough times to figure it out himself. He could fly alone, but he was a bit unsteady and slow on the turns. Carrying a thrashing Hiccup didn't help.

"_**Calm, Hiccup," **_Toothless urged as he struggled for land.

"_**Trick! Fight!" **_Hiccup shrieked.

Toothless rumbled and flapped higher as they approached the Edge. He glided over the trees until he found a small clearing and landed heavily on his hind paws.

Toothless released Hiccup. "_**Safe."**_

Hiccup scrambled away. He was clearly trying to run, but stumbled and fell on his side. Toothless rumbled and stepped forward, but Hiccup rolled away and snarled.

"_**Hiccup. Toothless friend," **_Toothless said.

"_**Enemy! Trick!" **_Hiccup growled.

"_**Friend."**_

"_**Bad!"**_

Toothless huffed, wondering why Hiccup was in such a bad mood. Even if he was talking and acting like a dragon, why was he so suspicious?

Hiccup leaped off to the side. Toothless snagged him with his tail, easily stopping his "escape." Hiccup roared angrily and bit Toothless' tail.

"_**Hiccup, stop,"**_ Toothless said irritably, shaking off Hiccup.

Hiccup swiped a hand at him and attacked the tail again. Maybe he was hungry? The Riders got grumpy when they were hungry, and it was the same for dragons. Offering food was a good way to calm down dragons, too. Even a human who thought he was a dragon, hopefully.

Toothless crooned and coiled his tail around Hiccup, who yelped and renewed his "attack" on the tail. Toothless ignored him and plodded through the dark forest until he found a stream.

"_**Hungry?" **_Toothless asked.

"_**No," **_Hiccup grumbled.

"_**Dragons always hungry," **_Toothless said, then set to the task of fishing.

It didn't take long for Toothless to catch a couple fish. He grumbled when he realized that he couldn't cook the fish like Hiccup always preferred, but maybe his dragon-minded Rider wouldn't mind.

Hiccup, meanwhile, had given up fighting when it became clear that he wasn't going to get away. Toothless' hold was firm, and nothing Hiccup did hurt Toothless.

Toothless released Hiccup, then scooped him back with his tail when Hiccup tried to bolt. Hiccup lost his balance and flopped to the ground with a yelp. Toothless took advantage of his temporary distraction to push a fish into Hiccup's face.

Hiccup didn't seem to notice the fish until a flailing hand touched it. He yelped and jerked back, then crept forward. After a good deal of sniffing and prodding, Hiccup finally nibbled at the fish.

Toothless nodded and gulped down the other fish. He looked up at the sky through the trees, wondering how Hiccup would respond to being returned to the other Riders.

Hiccup coughed and spat out a mouthful of fish. Pawing at his mouth with one hand, Hiccup pushed away the gnawed fish with the other.

"_**Bad," **_Hiccup grumbled. He coughed again, making Toothless coo in worry.

"_**Hiccup okay?"**_ Toothless asked.

Hiccup growled and laid on the ground. He curled into a tight ball, holding his head. Toothless crooned, remembering Hiccup's injury earlier in the day. Hiccup growled at the sympathy, and waved a hand wearily when Toothless leaned to look at Hiccup's head.

"_**Hurt. Need help," **_Toothless said.

"_**Need flock."**_

"_**Rider flock?"**_

"_**Spike-Flinger flock."**_

Toothless huffed a breath in Hiccup's face, ruffling his mussed hair. Hiccup growled, but it wasn't as vehement as before. He was moving slower, too, and blinking heavily.

Toothless churred in realization. Hiccup was just tired! No wonder he didn't want to listen! Well, that Toothless could handle.

Toothless scooped Hiccup up with his fore-paws, ignoring Hiccup's protesting squawk. He flopped onto his side and held Hiccup against his warm stomach, then wrapped his wings around his body and Rider.

Hiccup didn't appreciate Toothless' move, as he showed in growls, bites that were harmless, and constant squirming.

Toothless didn't react to Hiccup's protests, only laid quietly and calmly. Gradually, Hiccup's motions slowed until he was laying limp in Toothless' grip. Toothless peeked under his wings, smiling gummily when he saw Hiccup had fallen asleep. Satisfied, Toothless laid his head down.

After a moment, Toothless raised his head and readjusted Hiccup. Delicately, Toothless grabbed the rope holding Hiccup's fake paw in place. It was loose from his wild day and Toothless was able to pull the rope off easily. Toothless then carefully worked his metal paw free and dropped it on the ground.

Just in case Hiccup tried to run again. Toothless was getting a little tired of chasing after his Rider.

* * *

No offense to Toothless, but Stormfly was much better suited to finding a runaway Hiccup. Being a Tracker Class dragon, Stormfly found Toothless' scent in no time.

Leaving behind the half-burnt fleet and a threat-yelling Dagur, Astrid squinted into the darkness. It had taken the Riders a bit to regroup and escape the Hunters, plus Astrid had wanted to ensure the fleet was damaged enough to discourage them from following the Riders back to the Edge.

Astrid was relieved when Stormfly followed Toothless' trail to the forest. As nice as it would have been for Toothless to bring Hiccup right to the Edge, at least he wasn't letting Hiccup go back to the Edge Nadders!

Eventually, the dragons pulled into a hover over the trees. Stormfly squawked a couple times, and received a low roar in response.

Astrid eyed the dense treetops. "Stormfly, find a clear spot to land, then we can walk."

Stormfly squawked, then the dragons circled until they found a large enough clearing to all land. Astrid was off Stormfly almost before she'd landed, but she hesitated to run into the trees.

"Did you see something, Astrid?" Fishlegs whispered.

"No." Astrid crossed her arms. "But I think we should wait until morning."

"We spent all day tracking him down," Snotlout whined. "Are we really going to give him a chance to run off again?"

"I doubt Toothless will let Hiccup out of his sight again," Fishlegs said.

Astrid waved a hand at the dark woods. "And do you really want to go after Hiccup when you can't see him?"

"Come on, this is Hiccup, what are you so worried about?" Snotlout scoffed.

"If you want to go after him, feel free," Astrid said, mounting Stormfly. "But I don't feel like wrestling an angry dragon."

"Toothless?" Snotlout asked.

"No, Hiccup."

"But Hiccup's not a dragon."

"Maybe, but he acts like one. And how did tracking an actual dragon in a dark forest go for you last time?" Astrid raised an eyebrow.

Snotlout grumbled and rubbed his nose. Astrid remembered the bites and scratches he'd returned with, not to mention his nasally speech for a week after.

Astrid turned Stormfly, then paused. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut…"

The twins and their dragon, holding a long rope they must have snatched from a Hunter's ship between them, blinked up at her. Ruffnut tried to hide the rope behind her, but it didn't go so well since she was in the middle of the line.

"What are you doing?" Astrid asked with a sigh.

"Standing here. Doing nothing," Tuffnut said.

"Definitely not setting up a trap," Ruffnut added.

The twins twitched when Astrid's axe flew between them, slicing the rope apart. Stormfly stepped forward and nudged the twins apart so she could grab the axe.

"No traps," Astrid ordered shortly. "We're catching Hiccup the way Hiccup catches dragons." Very, _very_ weird thought, but it had been a weird day.

"Hiccup's way is to jump in front of the dragon, do the hand thing, and hope for the best," Snotlout said. Astrid raised an eyebrow at him and waited for that thought to finish. "And I'm not volunteering to do the jumping!"

"I'm not sending you after Hiccup," Astrid said. "We want to catch Hiccup, not scare him off."

"This is a very odd conversation," Fishlegs said.

"What about this day has been normal?" Astrid had to ask.

"Yeah, it's actually been pretty quiet," Tuffnut commented.

Astrid groaned, suddenly very tired. "Let's just… get back to our huts. We leave at dawn to find Hiccup, though."

The fact that neither Snotlout or the twins complained at the early wake-up hinted at the silent worry of the Riders. In fact, it was the quietest flight Astrid could remember with the other Riders.

* * *

"Over here!"

Heather pulled back on Windshear's saddle, squinting at the dark waves. When Windshear rumbled and dove, Heather let her take the lead. There was a splash, then Windshear pulled quickly up.

Heather leaned to the side, eyeing the sputtering Hunter now in Windshear's claws. "Are you going to live?"

The Hunter spat out some more water, then wearily nodded. Heather gave a silent sigh of relief and urged Windshear back to the closest ship.

Windshear flew over the ship and dropped the soaked Hunter with the others she'd pulled from the ocean. Heather ran her eyes over the group, then turned Windshear to Dagur's secondary boat -his main boat currently at the bottom of the ocean.

Dagur didn't respond to Windshear's landing on the boat. He was leaning against the railing, staring at the distant lights of the Dragon's Edge.

"I think that's the last of them," Heather said, sliding from Windshear's back. "Fenrick's taking a count now."

"Get everyone on a ship," Dagur said.

His calm voice had Heather stiffening. "They are, Dagur."

"Reorganize the crew in the remaining ships," Dagur clarified. "We need to get moving."

"Okay…" Heather started to turn, but hesitated. "There's no rush. The Riders never bother us after an attack."

"And they've never left us a better opportunity!" Dagur proclaimed, spinning and flinging his arms into the air. "They only sunk two of our ships, and didn't stick around long enough to make sure our other ships sunk as well!"

Heather hid a grimace. It wasn't like Astrid to be so sloppy. Now, Dagur still had most of his fleet and the Riders probably wouldn't be checking on the fleet for a time.

"So, what's the plan?" Heather said, faking a smirk.

"We keep going," Dagur said. "We'll sneak up on them while it's still dark, and take them on in the morning!"

"Oy, Dagur!" Fenrick called from a couple ships over.

"I'm plotting the demise of the Riders, Fenrick, can it wait?" Dagur snapped.

"Er, well, just wanted to let you know all the Hunters were found."

"Even better, we're at full strength!"

Heather looked at the ships, illuminated by torches. Aside from a few Hunters who'd been injured in the battle and Fenrick, nobody else was in sight.

"Where is everyone?" Heather asked.

"In the holds." Fenrick winced. "That Gronkle blasted holes in three of our ships."

"What?!" Dagur shrieked. "How am I supposed to pull off a full-scale invasion with only three ships?"

"We'd better head back to home base," Heather said, silently adding, "And hope all the damaged ships make it."

"No, no, not doing it. I'm not running back to Viggo with my tail between my legs, half a fleet, and no dragons!" Dagur fumed.

"We can't take anything on with three damaged ships," Heather reasoned. "What else can we do?"

"We use the darkness to sneak around the back of the island," Dagur said, turning back to the railing. "We can hide until the ships are fixed, then we attack."

Heather rolled her eyes to the sky, but managed an upbeat, "They'll never even see us coming!"

"Exactly! Get a move on!" Dagur bellowed over his shoulder. "We don't have long before dawn!"

Heather glanced at Windshear and grimaced. Now what?


	9. Taming the Dragon Tamer

**A/N: I don't say this enough, but I love you reviewers. I love seeing your thoughts on the story!**

**On that thought, be sure to check the end of the last chapter for the new scene! Dragonrider's Fury pointed out that it would make sense for the Hunters to use the Edge to repair their ships since it is the closest island. It was a factor I was going to ignore (they are forever leaving the Edge as soon as they loose the fight in canon), but that review changed my mind. The Hunters are down, but they sure aren't out!**

**Guest review responses:**

**DawnJay: Thanks! And I post a new chapter every Thursday (sometimes later in the day than others...)**

**Random Fan: Dragon hugs for everyone! Yeah, well, Astrid is fond of all her limbs. XD Oh, everyone will be making noise real soon... Thanks!**

* * *

Muffled voices roused Hiccup. He twitched, then stilled in confusion. He was stuck. When he opened his eyes, everything was dark. He focused on the voices, and wanted to growl when he couldn't understand them. He stiffened as he remembered the previous day.

Stormfly telling him to go to Astrid, Heather attacking him. The Nightwing grabbing Hiccup when he tried to escape.

The Nightwing -who'd called himself Toothless, even though Hiccup had seen his teeth on the Hunter's den- must have brought him back to humans. Not the Hunters, but the ones that Stormfly had called Riders.

Hiccup didn't move as he tried to figure out where he was. Large, blunt paws cradled him and there was something flat and scaly under him. Wings? Was Toothless shielding or hiding him?

Hiccup focused on the voices in vain. He gave a small grumble when the Nightwing remained silent.

The paws holding him shifted. A bit of light shone on Hiccup as wings opened slightly. A single green eye peered down at him with a coo.

"_**Hiccup awake?"**_

The humans had gone silent when Toothless spoke, though there was a quick murmur when Hiccup growled.

He had to get out _now!_ Hiccup bared his teeth and bit the closest paw. Toothless flinched with an annoyed grumble. Hiccup's teeth had barely made a dent, but it distracted Toothless for a brief heartbeat and Hiccup wasn't about to waste it.

Hiccup pushed Toothless's paws away and slipped free. He scrambled up the larger dragon's muzzle and pushed his way through the gap in his wings. Toothless roared and spread his wings, letting Hiccup tumble to the ground. Taking in the humans and dragons on one side in a glance, Hiccup turned to run in the opposite way.

And fell flat on his muzzle.

Hiccup flipped onto his back and raised his hind legs, wondering why they were unresponsive. All thoughts escaped him when he did.

First his _tail,_ and now half a _leg_? How did he keep losing his limbs?!

Hiccup finally blinked and looked past his remaining paw. Five humans and five dragons -Toothless, Stormfly, a Rockspitter, a Two-Headed Sparker, and a Fire-Scale- were watching him without moving.

Hiccup rolled onto his side and growled. The second-largest human made a loud sound and wrapped his forepaws around his belly. He was… laughing?

Hiccup rumbled uncertainly, then Astrid hit the laughing human so he fell onto his back. He continued to laugh, but the other humans ignored him.

Astrid stepped away from the others and held out a paw, crooning. Hiccup snapped in her direction. Astrid jerked away, even though they were a Fire-Scale's length apart.

"_**Flock,"**_ Hiccup said in a rumbling growl, then louder "_**Hiccup flock!"**_

"_**No call!" **_Toothless urged, standing. Hiccup roared even louder. "_**Hiccup safe! Riders friends!"**_

A Nipper, attracted by Hiccup's call, poked its head from the bushes. Toothless snorted at it, and the Nipper scurried away. Hiccup huffed.

"_**Hiccup safe," **_Toothless said firmly.

"_**Friends," **_crooned Stormfly. She waved a head at the other dragons. "_**Meatlug, Barf and Belch, Hookfang."**_

"_**Not flock," **_Hiccup snarled. "_**Hiccup find flock! Riders leave Hiccup!"**_

Toothless rumbled, stepping forward. "_**Hiccup stay."**_

"_**No!"**_

Hiccup spun and kicked off his one hindpaw. Terribly off-balance, Hiccup had barely made it two steps when he heard Toothless following.

Luckily, Hiccup was much smaller than Toothless and the brush was thick. By diving through bushes and between close-growing trees, Hiccup put some space between himself and Toothless.

Unluckily, Hiccup knew it wouldn't last long. There were many more Riders; they could easily surround him. He needed his flock! Hiccup threw back his head and roared for help.

Hiccup's hind paw snagged on something. He stumbled, then tightly weaved vines sprang up from the ground and wrapped around Hiccup, jerking him into the air.

* * *

"I said." Astrid pressed a hand to her face. "No. Traps!"

"One wild Hiccup, as requested," Tuffnut said, ignoring Astrid's anger.

Astrid made herself not hit the twin, but only because Hiccup was already freaking out without her help.

Hiccup was tangled in a net, five feet in the air. He was thrashing wildly and occasionally biting a rope, but it was getting him nowhere. His dragon-like screeching was more concerning as it attracted the attention of nearby dragons.

"We have to get him calmed down," Fishlegs said. He was fiddling with Hiccup's prosthetic, which he'd picked up back where Toothless and Hiccup had been sleeping.

"And how do we do that?" Astrid asked. "This…. this isn't Hiccup!"

"Maybe we should give him a fish," Snotlout said, still laughing.

"What if we did what Hiccup always does?" Ruffnut suggested. "The hand thing!"

"We are not doing that to Hiccup," Astrid ground out.

"Okay, fine," Ruffnut said, crossing her arms. "We caught Hiccup, you can figure out what to do with him."

"We're taking him back to the Edge," Astrid said firmly.

"Tuff and I will get a stall ready!" Ruffnut volunteered.

"We are _not_ putting Hiccup in the stables!" Astrid said, horrified.

"Well, how do you intend on keeping Hiccup around? As soon as you let him out, he's going to bolt."

"We'll take him to his hut. He'll be fine there."

"Fine, maybe, but why would a dragon stick around Hiccup's hut?"

"Hiccup isn't a dragon!" Astrid snapped.

"But we need to treat him like one," Fishlegs said. Astrid spun to scowl at him. "J-just a bit, Astrid! We can't talk him into calming down, I doubt he understands us like this. If we don't want to scare him off, we need to treat him like a scared dragon. We need to earn his trust."

If anybody except Fishlegs had made such a suggestion, Astrid would have thrown her axe at them. Treat Hiccup like a dragon? It felt _wrong_. But, Astrid knew the idea had to be as absurd to Fishlegs as it was to her, so she'd have to go along with it.

"How do we do that?" Astrid asked.

"I'll get the fish," Snotlout snickered.

Astrid opened her mouth to retort, but Fishlegs responded before she could. "Actually, Hiccup could be hungry after all of this. Why don't you get some fish back at the Clubhouse ready? And, Snotlout? Cook it. We aren't letting Hiccup get sick on raw fish."

"Well, duh," Snotlout said, expression saying he might have not thought about that.

Astrid watched Hookfang fly off. "Thanks, Fishlegs."

"This is going to be tricky enough without the possibility of Snotlout upsetting Hiccup," Fishlegs said.

Astrids just nodded. "Come on, Toothless."

Toothless stood from where he'd been waiting with the other dragons. He seemed as confused about dealing with Hiccup as the Riders.

Resolutely pushing down the wrong feeling, Astrid stepped forward. Hiccup, who had stilled while the Riders talked, starting squirming and growling. Astrid continued to walk until she was within arm's reach of Hiccup.

Toothless warbled as he stopped at Astrid's side. Hiccup growled back. The pair seemed to have a conversation until Hiccup ended it with a snap of his jaws. Hiccup squirmed, then yelped with his leg stump slipped through a gap in the net.

Astrid remembered Hiccup's confused expression when he discovered his prosthetic missing. He really _had_ forgotten everything. But… that gave her an idea.

"Fishlegs, toss me his leg," Astrid said.

Fishlegs did as Astrid asked, making Hiccup growl. Astrid had to roll her eyes. Most dragons they encountered weren't half this antsy. Though, he had been captured by the Hunters. Had they hurt him?

Pushing that thought aside, Astrid focused on Hiccup. He was too tangled in the net to move much, so Astrid quickly stepped closer and grabbed his stump. Ignoring Hiccup's screeching and thrashing, Astrid hurriedly reattached his prosthetic.

"Stormfly, cut him down!" Astrid ordered, hopping back.

Stormfly flicked out a tail spike, slicing through the rope holding the net. Toothless rose on his hind paws to catch the net, then carefully set it down. He pulled back the net from a furious Hiccup, then easily snagged Hiccup in his tail when the boy tried to run.

Astrid took another step back at the sight of Hiccup writhing, scratching, and biting. "_Oh, Hiccup…"_

Hiccup abruptly stopped. Blinking quickly, he stared at his prosthetic. He gave a soft roar, and Toothless rumbled back. Hiccup cooed.

Astrid couldn't believe her plan had actually calmed Hiccup down. But, she wasn't going to waste her opportunity.

"Hiccup," Astrid said softly, stepping closer.

Hiccup gave a low rumble and shifted away from Astrid and Toothless, but he stayed calm. His eyes had less suspicion in them, prompting Astrid to continue approaching.

"Hiccup, we want to help you," Astrid said, wondering if he even understood her. "It's okay."

Hiccup rumbled, prompting Astrid to murmur more reassurances. She forced herself to not think of Hiccup as Hiccup, but a scared dragon and tried to respond as Hiccup would.

Eventually, Hiccup's body language relaxed. His eyes flicked past Astrid when someone walked up behind her, but he didn't turn defensive.

"Do you think he'll come to the Edge now?" Fishlegs asked.

"One way to find out," Astrid murmured. "Toothless, can you take Hiccup back?"

Toothless warbled, then roared at Hiccup. The boy rumbled, tilting his head to the side. Toothless stepped closer and offered his back. Hiccup rumbled something that made Toothless give a throaty laugh, but willingly hopped onto Toothless' back.

Astrid ran to Stormfly and mounted her. "Let's just walk, girl. Toothless can't fly without help, anyway."

Toothless roared playfully, then leaped into the air. Astrid blinked as he flapped a couple times, then steadied into flight. Hiccup gave a howling roar that sounded excited.

"How long as Hiccup been keeping this from us?" Tuffnut asked.

"You're telling me that Toothless has been able to fly this whole time?" Ruffnut added.

"That's really what you're focusing on right now?" Astrid asked, then urged Stormfly to follow.

"It's kind of a big deal!" Ruffnut yelled after her.

* * *

**A/N: Make sure you've read the added scene in the last chapter!**


	10. Dragon's Play

**A/N: Apologies, but I get distracted. This is what happens when my amazing reviewers prompt me to change the ending of a story. XD I regret nothing!**

**Oh, and if you'd check out the poll on my profile, that would be great. I can't take it down any later than Sunday evening, so it is kind of short notice, I know. The next chapter is pretty much ready, too, but I need help figuring out how to play out the final scene. 0w0**

**Response to guests:**

**Random Fan: Same here! He might not look like a dragon, but he sure acts it, so you might as well treat him like one! XD Astrid is pretty much in denial at this point. XD**

**Calliope: Thanks! It's good to know people are enjoying this as much as me!**

* * *

Hiccup had finally calmed down by the time Toothless took off, for which Toothless was grateful. He didn't want to be fighting Hiccup again, especially since that would only spook him more.

Toothless kept his flight steady, enjoying Hiccup's excited roars as he leaned back-and-forth.

"_**Wind-Riders not fly," **_Hiccup informed him. "_**Glide."**_

With that, Hiccup leaped off Toothless' back. Toothless yelped in surprise and heard the Riders yell. Toothless prepared to give chase, but Hiccup only pulled into a glide beside Toothless.

"_**See?" **_Hiccup said, unaware of the panic he'd caused.

Toothless huffed. "_**Nice."**_

Toothless dove, then came back up under Hiccup, forcing his Rider back onto his back. Hiccup grumbled, but Toothless didn't want him to fall.

"_**Stay," **_Toothless growled in warning when Hiccup moved to jump again.

"_**No fun," **_Hiccup grumbled, settling down.

The rest of the flight was quiet while Hiccup cooed at the view. He started to get restless when Toothless landed in front of the Clubhouse.

"_**Home," **_Toothless said.

"_**Human home. Where den?" **_Hiccup asked.

Toothless beckoned with his head toward Hiccup's hut. Hiccup looked up, then grumbled. Toothless cocked his head, then rumbled in surprise when Hiccup sprang off his back.

Toothless spun, but Hiccup was out of sight. He looked up, and found his Rider perched on the doorframe.

"_**Hiccup. Down," **_Toothless rumbled.

Hiccup chirped and shuffled further up. Toothless was about to stand to grab the wandering Hiccup, when he was distracted by the Clubhouse door opening. Toothless glanced down as Snotlout stepped out. Above, Hiccup stiffened.

"Toothless?" Snotlout said. "Back already? Where's Hiccup?"

Toothless glanced at Hiccup, who was eyeing Snotlout. "_**Friend."**_

Toothless just wanted Hiccup to know Snotlout wasn't a threat. Hiccup took him very seriously and proceeded to prove how relaxed he was with the Riders.

By jumping on Snotlout.

Snotlout gave an impressive shriek as he was toppled by the Viking half his size. Hookfang immediately thrust his head from the Clubhouse, halting mid-roar at the sight of Hiccup perched proudly on Snotlout's back.

"Get him off of me!" Snotlout whimpered.

Toothless chirred at Snotlout. Hookfang, less impressed with his Rider being "attacked," stepped forward. He snagged Hiccup by the back of his armor and lifted him, allowing Snotlout to scramble away.

At the same time, the other dragons landed. Astrid rolled her eyes at Snotlout, but the other three Riders acted rather amused with Snotlout's plight.

"He knows we're friends now." Astrid dropped to the ground, then cocked her head. "I think."

"You think? Exactly," Snotlout said, standing and brushing himself off. "You say that now, but the next thing you know- Hooky, you okay?"

Toothless looked at Hookfang. The Nightmare had a disgusted look on his muzzle. He dropped Hiccup to the ground and gagged.

"_**Stink," **_Hookfang whined.

Hiccup gave an insulted growl. Toothless leaned forward and sniffed. His muzzle wrinkled. It had been a couple days since Hiccup's last bath, and he had been doing a lot of running since then…

"Is everything okay?" asked Astrid, already on edge.

Hiccup stiffened when the other Riders started to tense. Toothless rumbled in exasperation and picked Hiccup up. Hiccup yelped, but didn't resist. Toothless made his way past the huts, where large pits had been dug out, lined with stone, and filled with water. Toothless made his way to the largest pit, where he dropped Hiccup.

Hiccup's screech was cut off when the water closed over his head. He flailed to the surface, growling and shaking his head.

"_**Hiccup need bath," **_Toothless said firmly.

Hiccup snorted and splashed water at Toothless. Behind Toothless, the other dragons had followed. They chirred at Hiccup.

"Oh, I get it," Astrid said, coming up beside the Night Fury. "But, was that really a good idea, with all his clothes on?"

"Drying leather sure chafes," Tuffnut commented.

Toothless rumbled. Was he supposed to think of everything?

"We'll just get him some dry clothes," Fishlegs said.

"Will he even know what to do with them?" Ruffnut asked, drawing weird looks from the others. She sighed. "Hiccup thinks he's a dragon. Dragons don't wear clothes. You get what I'm saying?"

Astrid groaned. "Great."

"Changing his clothes would be like the dragon version of molting, except he's got to put his new 'scales' on," Tuffnut went on.

Toothless gave a throaty laugh. Leave it to the twins to figure out the thoughts of his dragon-minded Rider!

Fishlegs looked horrified. "We aren't changing Hiccup's clothes!"

"He's going to be embarrassed enough once this mess is all fixed," Astrid added.

The Riders looked at Hiccup, paddling around the pit. Finally, Astrid looked at Toothless.

"I have an idea."

* * *

Hiccup was pretty sure most dragons didn't change their scales themselves. Or need help from another dragon to do so.

Nevertheless, with Toothless' guidance, Hiccup pulled off his wet scales -he had also wondered why his scales held water when Toothless just shook his scales dry after retrieving him- and put on new scales.

Once he had on his new scales, Hiccup looked around the den Toothless said was his and Hiccup's. It was human-made, full of human stuff, rather big for two dragons, had few exits, and was overly exposed in general.

Yet, somehow, it felt… right. The same kind of right Hiccup felt when he was with Toothless and the Riders. The same kind of right he'd felt with Heather and Windshear.

Hiccup blinked. "_**Where Heather and Windshear?"**_

Toothless cocked his head. "_**Hunters."**_

"_**What?!" **_Hiccup leaped to his paws. "_**Rescue!"**_

"_**Hiccup. Heather and Windshear Hunters. Bad."**_

Hiccup firmly shook his head. "_**No! Good! Help Hiccup and Spike-Flingers escape!"**_

Toothless warbled thoughtfully. Hiccup huffed and returned to inspecting the den.

Hiccup climbed to the second level of the den, just finding more human stuff. He poked around the objects piled on ledges on the walls, curious. He perked up when his paw pulled out something soft and shaped like a dragon.

"_**Hiccup toy," **_Toothless said as he joined Hiccup.

Hiccup cooed and sat back on his haunches. He pawed the dragon-toy's soft face and hard eyes. The toy was… very familiar.

"_**Hiccup?"**_

Hiccup blinked back to the present. Toothless was watching him. Hiccup rumbled and shoved the dragon-toy into a pouch he'd discovered in his new scales.

"_**Ready?" **_Toothless asked, offering his back to Hiccup.

Hiccup chirped and scrambled onto Toothless' back. Toothless hopped to the first level and nudged away the wood that covered the den entrance.

Outside, the other dragons and Riders were waiting. Hiccup wondered why they were all following him around, but quickly decided they didn't want him to run off again.

Stormfly pushed past the dragons to Toothless' side. Hiccup turned away from her, still mad about the Hunter's floating den.

Hiccup felt her grab the back of his scales, then he was suddenly pulled into the air. He screeched angrily, twisting to swipe his claws at her. Toothless spun and growled a warning. Stormfly responded by putting Hiccup on her back. This seemed to throw the Riders into a panic, but Hiccup decided to just turn his back and ignore everyone.

"_**Hiccup no mad," **_Stormfly pleaded, pressing her muzzle to Hiccup's back.

Hiccup shifted away. "_**Mad. Why Stormfly take Hiccup? Riders… friends? Stormfly hide Hiccup."**_

"_**Wanted Hiccup. Friend alone," **_Stormfly said sheepishly.

Hiccup huffed, but Stormfly persisted. She kept tapping his back and cooing hopefully. Hiccup felt the corners of his muzzle turn up. He turned and swatted Stormfly's nose.

"_**Greedy Stormfly," **_Hiccup grumbled.

Stormfly squawked and licked Hiccup. He scurried away, roaring in protest.

"_**Stormfly! Hiccup clean!"**_

A loud roar startled Hiccup. He crouched against Stormfly's back, while the Spike-Flinger braced herself defensively. Both relaxed slightly when they saw Toothless glaring at them.

"_**Stop," **_Toothless said. "_**Scare Riders."**_

Hiccup looked at the humans. None of them were moving, though fear was obvious in their eyes.

"_**Why scared?" **_Hiccup asked.

Toothless cocked his head to the side. "_**Hiccup… small."**_

"_**Riders think Stormfly hurt Hiccup," **_Stormfly added.

"_**No hurt." **_Hiccup straightened. "_**Hiccup fine."**_

The human called Astrid stepped forward and spoke. Hiccup still didn't understand human, but he was starting to recognize the sounds Astrid made to get his attention. His name in the human language?

Hiccup cocked his head in thought, but was distracted when Barf and Belch jumped onto Hookfang. The pair wrestled around, their playful growls and snaps largely ignored by the others.

Hiccup glanced at Toothless. The larger dragon was distracted watching Astrid, making him the perfect target…

Astrid yelped as Hiccup leaped over her head. Toothless grunted, though he barely budged when Hiccup crashed into him.

Hiccup rolled to the ground and kicked at Toothless' muzzle, falling short. To his disappointment, Toothless didn't go for it. He was busy looking at Astrid. Hiccup snapped in annoyance and crawled under Toothless. The larger dragon grunted and shifted so he wasn't over Hiccup.

Hiccup grumbled, then grabbed the vine-like strips Toothless and the other dragons wore. Ignoring Toothless' agitated rumble, Hiccup scurried up the strips to Toothless' back.

He balanced on his new perch, nimbly dodging Toothless attempts to reach back and grab him. Laughter from the other dragons urged Hiccup to further his antics. He flung himself flat, holding onto the human thing strapped to Toothless' back. He was too low for Toothless' teeth, tail, or paws to reach. He rumbled with laughter as Toothless' efforts quickened until he was spinning in useless circles.

Eventually, Toothless stopped spinning. He staggered sideways, and Hiccup's own vision was spinning.

Without warning, Toothless flopped onto his side. Hiccup, plenty dizzy himself, lost his grip and tumbled across the ground.

Hiccup scrambled to his paws and squawked. Toothless rolled onto his paws and crouched playfully, paws spread wide and tail sticking straight up. His tail twitched invitingly. Hiccup lunged, narrowly falling short when Toothless sprang backwards. Hiccup jumped after him, laughter bubbling in his throat when Toothless continued to evade him.

It wasn't long before the other dragons joined in the chase. Toothless dodged them all for a time, until Hiccup pounced on his tail. Toothless jumped and looked at him, distracted long enough for Stormfly to crash into him.

"_**Dragon pile!" **_Hiccup, still holding his prize, shrieked.

"_**Stop!" **_

Despite Toothless' yelp, the rest of the dragons clambered onto him. Toothless squirmed, but he was well and truly pinned, so he gave up. Hiccup released his tail and marched to sit in front of Toothless' muzzle.

"_**Hiccup win," **_Hiccup said proudly.

Toothless huffed. A mischievous gleam appeared in his eyes. Hiccup started to stand, then Toothless lunged. The other dragons, having relaxed when Toothless stopped fighting, tumbled off.

Hiccup's alarmed screeched turned amused when Toothless snagged him in his paws and rolled off to the side. Toothless held Hiccup firmly and gave him a sloppy lick.

"_**Toothless!" **_Hiccup wailed.

* * *

Astrid watched Hiccup and the dragons' antics from her seat on one of the walkways. She sighed, then curled her legs in front of her and wrapped her arms around her legs.

It wasn't even midday, and Astrid was ready to scream.

Or hit someone. It was probably a good thing that the Riders had scattered when the dragons started to play, because not even Fishlegs would have been spared in her frustration.

It was all just so wrong! While she was glad Hiccup had readily accepted the Riders, it wasn't Hiccup. It was too easy. He was just… just a dragon in a Viking body.

Astrid closed her eyes against the sight of Hiccup rolling on the ground with Toothless and pressed her face to her knees.

* * *

On the opposite side of the base, Heather watched Hiccup with equal horror. She had been sure that a night back at the Edge with Toothless and the Riders would jolt him back to his normal self.

"This isn't good," Heather breathed, inching back to where Windshear waited in the trees.

The Hunters were making good progress in repairs. Heather expected them to be seaworthy by morning, if not evening. She'd gone on a scouting mission, in the hopes of finding Hiccup normal. If Hiccup was his old self, Heather would be less concerned. If Hiccup was in his right mind, the Riders would know of the damaged fleet getting themselves back together on the opposite side of the island.

But Hiccup _still _wasn't right in the head and the Riders were obviously too distracted for it to even occur to them to patrol!

"They are _hopeless_ without Hiccup," Heather muttered, mounting Windshear. "I thought at least Astrid keep her head. But _no_. Looks like it's up to us, Windshear."

Windshear rumbled comfortingly. Heather's scowl melted as she ran a hand down her dragon's side.

"You're right," Heather said. "Come on. Let's get back before Dagur sends a search party after us."

Windshear warbled, then turned and made her quiet way through the forest.


	11. Ambush

**A/N: Bear with me here. I was having a hard time with timing, so it's kind of jumpy.**

**Guest responses:**

**Random Fan: The last chapter was just pleading to be goofy and light, and how could I say no? XD Yeah, beware the angry Astrid! Apparently, you and I are the only ones who wanted the dart... **

**Guest: Thanks!**

* * *

It was midday, and Hiccup was still playing with the dragons. Which was okay, totally okay, at least he was calm? And at the Edge? And…

And trying to eat a raw fish.

"Tuffnut, stop encouraging him!" Astrid yelled.

Tuffnut jerked around and hid the fish behind his back. Astrid glared at him until he shuffled away. She did her best to ignore the whining sound Hiccup made as his supposed lunch was carried away.

"Hiccup," Astrid said, prompting the boy to look at her. Astrid faltered briefly. "You… do you understand me?"

Hiccup blinked, then squawked and bounded to where Toothless was eating from a bucket of fish. Astrid watched Toothless growl at Hiccup until he sat back. Toothless took a fish, made a sort of hiccup-y sound in his mouth, then dropped a blackened fish in front of Hiccup.

"At least Toothless can talk to Hiccup."

Astrid startled at Fishlegs' voice. She glanced at him standing at her shoulder.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?" Astrid said.

"Never. By now, he should have slept it off, but…" Fishlegs gestured helplessly. "At least he's here with us now, though. It would be best if we followed our usual routines. Who knows, something we do could snap Hiccup out of this."

"You think so?" Astrid asked, watching Hiccup gag on a fish bone.

"Starting with patrols," Fishlegs said firmly.

"What for? The Hunters are long gone by now."

"Hiccup always insisted on patrols," Fishlegs said.

Astrid gave herself a mental shake. What was she thinking? If their roles were reversed, Astrid knew Hiccup would be ensuring nothing could get to her. Just because the Hunters had been run off, there were always other threats.

Also, if nothing else, it provided a distraction.

"You're right," Astrid said, turning to give Fishlegs her full attention. "I'll go out myself."

Fishlegs started. "Really?"

"Yeah. I need to get away from…" Astrid waved at Hiccup whining for another fish. "Somebody needs to check on the Edge Nadders, anyway, and I'm guessing Stormfly has met them already if she was captured with them. You and Snotlout check where we left the Hunter fleet last night and make sure they're far away."

"What about Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked.

"Toothless and the twins seem to have a hold on the Hiccup situation."

Fishlegs looked skeptical, so Astrid gestured to Hiccup. Okay, so growling with Hiccup and crawling around with him was odd, but it was fairly normal for the twins. As long as they kept him calm, Toothless would ensure Hiccup didn't wander off.

Fishlegs nodded, though he looked pained. Astrid suspected her expression was the same. But she had to get away before she gave into the urge to scream at the sky. If Hiccup didn't go back to normal soon, then they'd have to go to Gothi for help...

Oh, Thor.

Snotlout came up then, unknowingly voicing Astrid's thoughts. "So, who's telling Stoik that his son's a dragon?"

Astrid didn't give any warning. She just wound up and punched Snotlout, dropping him to his butt.

"I was just asking!" Snotlout whined.

Fishlegs grabbed Snotlout and pulled him to his feet and out of reach in one move. "Come on, Snotlout, we need to go out on patrol."

"Aw, come on, can't we get a break?" Snotlout complained.

Astrid let Fishlegs lecture Snotlout about keeping on their toes, instead going to the twins. Tuffnut hid another raw fish behind his back, but Astrid chose to ignore that.

"Fishlegs, Snotlout, and I are going on patrol. You two are going to stay here with Hiccup. Make sure he doesn't wander off, alright?" Astrid said firmly.

Ruffnut beamed. "You can count on us, Astrid!"

Astrid still had her doubts, but walked to Hiccup. "Hiccup."

Hiccup looked up at Astrid. He gave a questioning little roar.

"I don't know if you understand me, but I have to go check the Edge Nadders. You need to stay here with Toothless, Ruff, and Tuff, okay?"

Hiccup cocked his head.

"Stay," Astrid said, jabbing a finger toward the ground for emphasis.

Toothless gave a small roar. Hiccup glanced at him, then squawked and sat down.

"Alright… good." Astrid slowly backed away. "Stay, Hiccup."

Hiccup just blinked at Astrid, so she turned away. Stormfly was right there, crouched and ready to go.

"I guess you're wanting some time, too, huh?" Astrid asked, mounting.

Stormfly squawked, then suddenly took off. Astrid grunted and grabbed the saddle before she could fall off.

"Stormfly!" Astrid scolded.

Stormfly squawked apologetically but continued to rush over the forest, so low that her talons brushed the treetops. Astrid noticed her head was twitching back-and-forth and she was sniffing.

"Is there something out here, girl?" Astrid asked quietly.

Stormfly squawked. Astrid let her have her head and scanned the forest with narrow eyes. She silently hoped the freed Edge Nadders went back to their roost and weren't wandering around.

As if on cue, Astrid heard a distressed roar from the left. Astrid quickly steered Stormfly -who was staring off to the right- toward the sound. She urged Stormfly toward a small clearing near rustling trees. Stormfly hesitated, then dropped to the ground.

"Easy, girl," Astrid murmured when Stormfly shifted her paws. "We don't want to spook him. Let's get a bit closer."

Stormfly grumbled, but stepped forward.

Through the trees, Astrid spotted an Edge Nadder. It was larger than Stormfly, with ragged wings and chipped scales. It sniffed along the ground, squawking quietly.

Astrid squinted. It didn't appear to be hurt, despite its miserable sounds leading her to it. Had it lost its flock after the Riders freed them from the Hunters? No, Nadders never got lost.

Astrid scanned the forest around the Edge Nadder, then slid to the ground. "Okay, girl. Since you're such good friends with these guys, why don't you go see what's wrong?"

Stormfly cooed and stepped forward.

In the same instant, there was a loud rustling for behind. Astrid tensed, but before she could turn, something struck the back of her head. Suddenly weak, Astrid fell to her knees. Stormfly's angry roar was abruptly cut off in a blur of silver. Ears ringing, Astrid was sure she heard human yells from ahead, but she flopped limply to the ground before she could look. Footsteps thudded to her side, then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, Astrid." The voice, intense and quiet, was… Heather?

Finally, everything went black.

* * *

The twin Riders were trying to tell Hiccup something, he was sure. What it was… Hiccup wasn't sure. Not even Toothless could explain what they were doing.

Hiccup glanced at the latest object -brown, slightly thicker than his paw, and full of white leaves- they held out, then at the twin Toothless had called Ruffnut. She made a human noise and flipped through the leaves.

"_**Dragon book," **_Toothless said. "_**Learn dragons."**_

Hiccup blinked. "_**Wind-Gliders?"**_

Toothless churred, but otherwise didn't respond. Hiccup huffed, then bounded across the clearing he'd learned to be called an arena.

The Rider twins yelled something, but Hiccup didn't pay attention. He didn't know what they wanted and their playing made no sense.

Hiccup went to the Two-Headed Sparker. "_**Humans weird."**_

Barf and Belch chirred, then nudged Hiccup back toward the Riders. "_**Learn."**_

Hiccup cocked his head. "_**Learn?"**_

"_**Remember," **_Belch encouraged.

Hiccup rumbled. If the dragons were going to be stubborn about it, fine.

Before Hiccup could move, though, a thin cry echoed through the air. Hiccup perked up at the dragon roar. It was too far away to make out, though.

Toothless, however, seemed to hear the roar. His head jerked up and his ears flicked forward. He warbled sadly.

"_**What?" **_Hiccup asked, pawing at the larger dragon.

"_**Lost hatchling," **_Toothless relayed. "_**Spike-Flinger hatchling."**_

Hiccup whined. "_**Who hatchling?"**_

Toothless listened again. "_**Raggedwing hatchling."**_

Hiccup squeaked and fell on his haunches. He sheepishly bared his teeth in realization.

"_**Hatchling not lost," **_Hiccup said. "_**Hatchling… Hiccup."**_

Toothless gave Hiccup a look that could only be described as betrayed. He swiftly wrapped his tail around Hiccup and pulled him close.

"_**Toothless hatchling."**_

Hiccup chirred. Imagine, a Spike-Flinger and a Nightwing fighting over a Wind-Glider! He wondered what his flock would think of that!

Hiccup blinked at the thought, amusement vanishing in a blink.

Toothless looked down at him. "_**What wrong?"**_

Hiccup stared into his eyes. "_**Where Hiccup flock?"**_

Toothless hesitated. Hiccup shoved away, wings spread wide and head cocked back in aggression.

"_**Where flock?!"**_

As if caught up in Hiccup's confusion and pain, Raggedwing's distant roar suddenly turned panicked.

* * *

"Astrid is going to kill me!" Heather freaked out quietly. She glanced at Windshear pinning Stormfly. "How hard did you hit her?"

Windshear rumbled and removed her paws from Stormfly's muzzle. The Nadder turned and growled when she saw her Rider unconscious in Heather's arms.

"It's okay, girl."

Heather flinched at the panicked roar of the Edge Nadder, accompanied by the frenzied shouts of Hunters trying to subdue it. She and Windshear needed to get involved before anyone was seriously hurt, but she kind of had an unconscious Rider in her hands.

"New plan, Stormfly," Heather said, dragging Astrid into a slumped, but upright, position. "You and Astrid came to defend the Edge Nadder, and Windshear and I got the drop on you. Now, you have to bring Astrid back to the Edge without getting caught, alright?"

Fortunately, Stormfly's mood improved instantly when she realized Heather was giving her Astrid back. She quickly grabbed picked up Astrid by the back of her armor, like she was scruffing a young dragon. She spread her wings, then gave a slight rumble.

Heather stared at her, then felt something coil around her ankles. Before she could react, her feet were jerked out from under her. She fell hard on her back as Stormfly cooed and took off.

"I kind of deserved that," Heather said to the unconcerned Windshear.

The act also played in Heather's favor unexpectedly as a Hunter shoved his way through the bushes. Making a show of rushing to her feet, Heather pointed at Stormfly.

"Rider!" Heather panted. "They nearly scared off the Edge Nadder before Windshear and I jumped them." She winced. "They got away, though. Now the Riders know we're here."

The Hunter grumbled and threw down his sword. "And we just finished repairs."

Heather nodded sympathetically. "Did you get the Edge Nadder?"

The Hunter perked up. "It never even saw us coming!"

Heather hoped her smile wasn't too much of a grimace as she followed the hunter to a sleeping, chained dragon.

"_Hurry back, Astrid."_

* * *

**A/N: I planned the have Heather's part as the start of the next chapter, then I realized everyone would have just been freaking out at Heather. XD It was an accident!**

**Oh, and don't worry. The "Astrid wakes up thinking she's a dragon, too" plot bunny was brutally shot down within half an hour of emerging. XD**

**In case you're curious on how the other choices in the poll would have played out...**

**Dart: Heather (with a boost from Windshear) would have tackled Astrid off of Stormfly, keeping her from going to the Edge Nadder's rescue. She then would have distracted Astrid, then stuck her with a dart.**

**Rock: Heather (with a boost from Windshear) would have tackled Astrid off Stormfly, but Astrid would have hit her head on a rock.**

**Ax: Astrid and Stormfly would have gone to the Edge Nadder's assistance, forcing Heather and Windshear to pretend to fight them. During the fight, Heather would have hit Astrid in the head with the side of her ax.**


	12. To Helheim in a Handbasket

**A/N: Despite getting totally distracted by _Soul of a Dragon _(which I will only be posting on Pat reon) I finished the final chapters of _Feral Hiccup_!**

**I was skittish about writing this chapter because I knew how the final scenes needed to go, but I wasn't totally sure on how to have it happen. Well, then I realized I'd forgotten a detail a couple chapters ago, and the final scenes work perfectly now!**

**Response to Random Fan: Poor Hiccup is trying so hard! Not in the slightest. Heather's trying, too. XD Yep, Raggedwing's getting caught in the middle again! And more K.O's to come!**

* * *

_**"Humans! Attack!"**_

Toothless could hear the cry clearly. He wanted to rush to the aid of the distressed dragon, but he didn't dare.

Hiccup was staring at him, confused and betrayed, as if Toothless had stolen him from his flock. How could he explain Hiccup's "flock" was the other Riders?

Barf and Belch roared in unison, "_**Hiccup flock here!"**_

Hiccup turned his confusion to the two-headed dragon. Belch nodded seriously, while Barf nudged Hiccup.

"_**Toothless. Astrid. Stormfly. BarfandBelch. RuffnutandTuffnut. Fishlegs. Meatlug. Snotlout. Hookfang. Hiccup. Flock!"**_

"_**Flock?" **_Hiccup repeated uncertainly.

Toothless roared in confidence. "_**Flock!"**_

Hiccup unexpectedly chirred. "_**Weird flock."**_

Toothless chirred back. "_**Yes." **_

Hiccup crooned and calmed down. With him satisfied, Toothless turned his focus on the dragon in danger.

Except, Raggedwing had gone silent.

Maybe he had given up or moved elsewhere? Or, had he picked up Hiccup's scent? What would they do if another dragon tried to claim Hiccup?

"_**Rider down! Hunters!"**_

Toothless' ears shot straight up at Stormfly's cry. He, Barf, and Belch's heads whipped toward the cry as Stormfly's signal flare shoots into the sky and explodes. The flare caught the humans' attention.

Ruffnut stared at the dissipating sparks. "I thought only Thorstons could get into trouble that fast."

"Normally, I'd agree," Tuffnut said seriously. "But it's been a rather off day for everyone."

"_**No talk!" **_Toothless roared. "_**BarfandBelch, go!"**_

The two-headed dragon roared and spread his wings. The twins quickly clambered into their saddles before Barf and Belch took off without them.

Hiccup spun to follow their route. "_**What?"**_

"_**Rider down," **_Toothless rumbled. He lifted his head to launch his own flare, a signal for Meatlug and Hookfang to return. "_**Hunters."**_

Hiccup whimpered and pressed his belly to the ground.

* * *

Astrid was going to have a chat with Heather the next time they saw each other. Specifically about her spur-of-the-moment plans. Because, seriously. Ouch.

Add in that she was laying on wood, and Astrid decided Heather had taken her "prisoner." Which meant she would be rescuing herself, because nobody else knew she'd been captured.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Astrid laid perfectly still until they were right over her. Then, bracing her hands against the deck, she kicked straight up. Her foot connected, causing a cry of pain and the person to stumble back.

As Astrid's foot came down, she pushed herself up and tucked her feet under her. She bounced up to her feet, eyes snapping open and ready to fight-

"Stormfly?"

Her dragon crooned and leaned forward when Astrid wavered. She squinted and pressed a hand to her head.

"What happened?" Astrid asked Stormfly.

"What happened," Ruffnut said, stepping into Astrid's sight, "Is you attacked my brother."

Astrid blinked at the twin, then looked down. She winced. "Sorry, Tuffnut."

"I'm hurt," Tuffnut, curled into a ball at Astrid's feet, groaned. "Very much hurt!"

Astrid looked around for the first time. She was back at the Edge, on the walkway to her hut. Behind Ruffnut, Hiccup was sitting on Toothless' head to watch.

"What happened?" Astrid asked.

"You tell us," Ruffnut said. "Stormfly sent her warning flare, so Tuff and I went to help. Stormfly met us halfway, carrying you like a hatchling."

"The Hunters are on the island," Astrid said. "I found them going after an Edge Nadder, but Heather and Windshear ambushed me. I don't know what happened next."

"The Hunters?" Tuffnut repeated. He stood, rubbing his chin. "Didn't we chase those guys off yesterday?"

"Not far enough," Astrid said. "They must have circled back while we were looking for Hiccup."

Hiccup perked up at the mention of his name. He crooned to Toothless, who rumbled back. Hiccup's cheerful expression dropped as he turned his head to the side. Stormfly squawked and followed his gaze.

"Have Fishlegs and Snotlout come back yet?" Astrid asked.

"They should be soon," Ruffnut said. "Both Stormfly and Toothless sent a flare."

"Thanks, girl," Astrid said, rubbing Stormfly's muzzle.

Stormfly crooned, but her gaze remained distant.

"We can't waste any time," Astrid said, mounting Stormfly. "Who knows how many Nadders the Hunters have caught by now? Ruffnut, Tuffnut, we'll head right out. Toothless, stay here with Hiccup."

Hiccup chirped to Toothless. The Night Fury growled, prompting Hiccup to look up with a scowl. He gave a short, angry roar. Toothless rumbled and spread his wings, staring at Astrid.

Astrid got the sense that Toothless was playing translator.

"Okay, fine, you two can come." Astrid glanced in the direction Fishlegs and Snotlout had gone. "The others will have to catch up."

"Is that really a good idea?" Tuffnut said, mounting Belch.

"We've already lost too much time," Astrid said, wondering how long she'd been out.

The dragons and Hiccup suddenly turned their head to the side and growled. Astrid tensed, having heard the cause this time: the frantic roars of dragons.

"We have to go. _Now_," Astrid said. "Come on, Stormfly!"

Stormfly squawked and took off. While Toothless usually flew in front, Astrid was glad to see him follow at the back of the group. She hoped Hiccup could stay out of the fight, but something told her that was too much to wish for.

"Astrid?" Ruffnut called. "Do we have, like, a plan or anything?"

"Free the dragons, feel free to blow up as many ships as you want," Astrid said. Her head was hurting too much to think, and she was particularly ticked at the Hunters just then.

"That's my favorite kind of plan!" Tuffnut yelled happily.

"They'll know we're coming, so we'll just have to come in fast and hope they aren't ready yet," Astrid went on.

"Bola!" somebody suddenly yelled.

Astrid automatically jerked to the left, urging Stormfly to veer to the side. A bola whistled past, inches from Stormfly's wing. Astrid looked down and spotted a small catapult on the ground.

The Hunter at the catapult spun and ran off. A second later, a ball of fire exploded against it.

Astrid turned her head in the direction from which the warning call had come. Meatlug and Hookfang were quickly approaching.

"Fishlegs? Snotlout?" Astrid said. "How did you get here so fast?"

"Fishface had a theory," Snotlout said grumpily.

"And I was right," Fishlegs added. Addressing Astrid, he went on, "We found ship wreckage near the Edge, way too close since the current should have washed them far out to sea by now. The wreckage leads north, and it only got worse. We were getting ready to head back for back-up when we saw Stormfly and Toothless' flares."

"Hunters are here," Astrid confirmed. "I found a group of them going after an Edge Nadder."

"And?" Fishlegs said expectantly.

"And Heather got the drop on me," Astrid said, rubbing her head.

"So, they know that we know," Snotlout said. "So much for the element of surprise!"

"Oh, there's the element of surprise alright," Tuffnut said. "Just, their surprise on us."

"Yes, very helpful," Astrid said sarcastically. "We'll just have to come in fast and take out their offenses as quickly as we can."

"What if I came in first from above?" Fishlegs suggested. "The Hunters' arrows won't affect Meatlug, and we'll distract them so the rest of you can come in from behind."

"We'll do that," Astrid agreed quickly. "Snotlout, focus on the ships. We can't let them think they can just come back as soon as we run them off. Ruff, Tuff, free any dragons that have already been captured. Leave Heather to me."

"What about Hiccup?" Tuffnut asked.

"I have no idea how Hiccup will 'help,' but I'm leaving that up to Toothless," Astrid said. She wondered how Toothless would act without Hiccup's guidance in the fight.

"No, I mean, what's up with Hiccup?" Tuffnut clarified.

Everyone turned to look at their leader.

Hiccup was crouched on the saddle, scowling and baring his teeth. When Astrid focused on him, she could hear a long growl coming from him.

"I think we're going to be getting a lot of help from Hiccup," Fishlegs guessed.

Astrid sighed. "I get the feeling that you're right. Whether we like it or not."

* * *

Hiccup was furious. And confused.

"_**Heather bad?"**_

Stormfly shook her head, repeating, "_**No. Pretend."**_

"_**Why?!"**_

"_**Help Riders. Trick Hunters," **_Stormfly tried to explain.

"_**Why?"**_

"_**Weird human plan," **_Hookfang huffed.

"_**Find Hunter leader. Trick Hunters, help Riders," **_Meatlug added.

Hiccup stared at them in shock. But, Stormfly had said that Heather and Windshear were capturing dragons! How did that help the Riders?

Toothless chirred. Hiccup grumbled at the amusement of the other dragons. Obviously, he was missing something in the explanation.

Before he could ask for further details, the dragons tensed and became serious. Meatlug rose above the others, Hookfang and Stormfly veered off in separate directions. Toothless followed Barf and Belch lower to weave through the treetops.

"_**Sneak,"**_ Toothless growled lowly. "_**Free flock."**_

Hiccup nodded and eagerly bared his teeth. He flattened himself on Toothless' back, so he wouldn't accidentally get brushed off the Nightwing's back by branches.

Soon, Toothless landed on the ground. Barf and Belch landed nearby. The dragons creeped closer to where the trees opened up.

Hiccup wanted to growl when he saw half of his former flockmates trapped in small dens. Many Hunters were moving around them, proud and swaggering at their catches.

He did growl when he spotted Swiftwing and Nightrise hunched protectively over their hatchlings. Their sides were marked with bleeding cuts, which came from the Hunters anytime the humans got close and the mother dragons growled.

"_**Wait," **_Toothless rumbled.

Hiccup scowled and hunkered back down. He turned his gaze toward the sky, right in time for a fireball to fly overhead. Hiccup tracked the fireball as it arced to the center of the Hunters' resting spot, striking one of their wooden objects and exploding.

For a second, nobody moved.

Then, Meatlug flew into the open, spewing fireballs left and right. Hunters scrambled to fight back, then Hookfang lit on fire and landed on one of their floating dens. Stormfly rushed in from the other side, flinging spikes to cut off Hunters running for weapons.

"_**Now!"**_ Toothless snarled, leaping into the chaos.

Toothless raced unhindered through the fighting, using his muzzle to knock aside anyone who got in the way. He didn't stop until he reached the den holding Nightrise and her hatchlings.

"_**Hiccup?!" **_Nightrise squawked.

Hiccup nodded. "_**Free soon."**_

Nightrise's call was noticed by the other Spike-Flingers, who roared and stomped upon noticing their former flockmate.

"_**Quiet," **_Hiccup chirred.

Hiccup slid off Toothless' back and went to the den. He felt the sticks, wondering once again how Heather had opened the dens back on the floating den. He looked at Toothless for help.

Toothless stared at the small dens, then spun and leaped into the middle of the battle. Hiccup squawked in fear, but Toothless returned soon after. He went to Hiccup and dropped a bunch of small, shiny sticks.

"_**Keys," **_Toothless explained. "_**Open cage."**_

Hiccup picked up the keys and went to where Toothless pointed as the front of the cage. He located a small hole in the sticks, where Toothless told him to poke a key. Hiccup did as Toothless instructed, but nothing happened.

Toothless grumbled. "_**Different key."**_

Hiccup tried a second key, to the same result. He was starting to get nervous as he poked in a third key, then this key went further in with a click.

"_**Twist!" **_Toothless roared triumphantly.

Hiccup twisted his paw. The key stuck, then jerked into place with a _thunk._ Immediately, Hiccup felt the cage wall give. He braced his paws and scrabbled backward, dragging the cage wall along with him.

Nightrise squawked happily as the cage was opened for her. She nudged her hatchlings onto her back, then ran out. She growled at the other cages holding flockmates.

"_**Go!" **_Hiccup roared. He waved a paw, giddy with success. "_**Hiccup free flock!"**_

Nightrise bobbed her head, then darted through the battle to the forest.

Hiccup leaped onto Toothless back, holding the keys carefully in his paw. He scanned the area, spotting Raggedwing in the nearest cage.

"_**There!" **_Hiccup pointed out.

Toothless roared and blasted away Hunters headed their way, then ran.

* * *

Heather and Windshear hadn't made an appearance yet, and that had Astrid on edge. She hadn't seen Dagur yet, either, and he was always in the middle of a fight. She hoped they were just looking for more dragons in the forest, not laying in wait or heading to take over the Edge… what had she been thinking, leaving the Edge undefended, anyway?

"Now!"

Astrid mentally groaned at Dagur's yell, even as she instinctively turned Stormfly away from the ship she'd been targeting. A scream from Snotlout told Astrid she needn't have bothered. She turned.

At the opposite end of docked ships, a net-enveloped Hookfang crashed to the sand. Snotlout, thrown from the saddle, was now stuck on Hookfang's nose in the tight net.

Hookfang tried to flame up to burn himself free, but Snotlout immediately started yelling. Hookfang growled and resorted to thrashing in the net to prevent Hunters from getting close. Meatlug left the ships to hover over Hookfang, batting away boulders from the suddenly active catapults.

Astrid moved Stormfly to help, but the Nadder had to stop abruptly when Windshear shot into the sky right in front of her muzzle. Astrid spotted arrows from Hunters concealed in the ships' cabins, and warned Stormfly just in time for her to dodge.

Beyond them, it wasn't much better. At Dagur's command, more Hunters had rushed out of hiding. Barf and Belch was busy trying to keep Hunters from his Riders while Ruffnut and Tuffnut fought with locks and panicking Edge Nadders.

Hiccup and Toothless, the furthest from the ships, were relatively safe for the moment. But while Toothless roared and blasted approaching Hunters, all of Hiccup's attention was on the groggy Edge Nadder he was coaxing from a cage.

"We have to get out of here, girl," Astrid said.

Stormfly squawked, then shot up to avoid another volley of arrows. When she leveled off, Astrid found herself facing Heather and Dagur.

Astrid was briefly glad to see both Berserker siblings on Windshear's back. With Hiccup on the ground, Astrid preferred to keep Dagur in sight. Then she realized that left dealing with both siblings to her, and she tried to not groan.

"Did you really think you could sneak up on us?" Heather asked, tone harsh despite the almost concerned way she eyed Astrid.

"It worked," Astrid said, gesturing to a slowly sinking ship. "Release the dragons, and we'll let you go with the rest of your ships."

And maybe she could get back to the Edge and lay down. _What_ had Heather hit her with?

"Never!" Dagur yelled, causing both young women to flinch. "We leave with the dragons or not at all! Fire, men, fire!"

Astrid pushed Stormfly into a dive, avoiding yet another stream of arrows. As Stormfly barrel-rolled out of the dive to evade a net, Astrid spotting Windshear following. Stormfly growled at the pursuit.

"Not yet, girl," Astrid said, focusing ahead. She pointed. "Spine shot, now!"

Stormfly flicked her tail, spikes severing several ropes holding Hookfang. Stormfly turned skyward, but Astrid twisted to look back.

Hookfang shook his head free, dislodging Snotlout from his nose. The Nightmare flamed up and violently shook his wings, struggling to fully free himself while spewing flames at the surrounding Hunters.

"Fishlegs!" Astrid yelled as Stormfly shot by Meatlug. "Help the twins!"

Fishlegs nodded, then his expression turned panicked. "Astrid, look-"

_Whump!_

Stormfly shrieked, and something slammed into Astrid. The next thing Astrid knew, Stormfly was falling, she was halfway out the saddle, and her shoulder hurt.

"Stormfly!"

Astrid pulled herself upright, spotting the net tangled around her dragon's tail and left wing. Ignoring her throbbing shoulder, Astrid grabbed the weight laying across the saddle and threw it hard.

Luckily, Stormfly was able to jerk her wing free. Her wings spread wide, barely slowing her fall before she crashed into the sand. Astrid closed her eyes on impact, then opened them to find herself on her back on the sand with Stormfly standing over her.

She couldn't remember falling from the saddle.

Windshear flew over the fallen pair, prompting Astrid to sit up a little too quickly. Her vision spun, and she fell back to the sand. A high, piercing sound filled her ears, making Astrid wonder before a familiar flash of purple exploded against Windshear. Then, her vision was obscured by Hiccup leaning over her.

"Hiccup," Astrid said, struggling to sit up. "We have to get out of here!"

Hiccup roared and pushed his head against Astrid's shoulder. He growled at the sky, then squawked at Stormfly. The Nadder roared back, then spread her spikes and flared her wings defensively. Hiccup looked at Astrid and roared.

"We have to _go_, Hiccup," Astrid insisted, though she was still unable to sit up.

Hiccup roared. Toothless bounded to his side, and Hiccup hopped onto his back. He made an assortment of noises at Astrid, who could only stare. Hiccup made the same sounds a couple of times. Astrid was certain he was doing it on purpose now.

Hiccup put out his hand and pointed firmly at the ground, saying in a gruff, almost dragon-ish voice, "Stay."

Then Toothless launched, leaving Astrid in Stormfly's care. And if Astrid was laughing a bit, she was putting it to one too many hits to the head.

* * *

Most of the Spike-Flinger flock was still trapped, but Hiccup knew they'd have to clear out the Hunters before they all could be freed. Most of the flock was half-asleep, so they couldn't escape or help defend the Riders freeing the others.

Hiccup growled at the number of Hunters. Was there any end to them?

Human yelling drew Hiccup's attention to the Hunter leader riding Windshear with Heather.

"_**Toothless. Stop Hunter leader?" **_Hiccup suggested.

Toothless grumbled. "_**Hold."**_

Hiccup tightened his grip on Toothless as the Nightwing swiftly changed course. He roared, catching Windshear's attention.

"_**Play!" **_

Windshear roared in agreement. She snapped her tail at Toothless, flinging spikes that he easily evaded. In return, he shot a couple power blasts to herd her away from the fight.

The two larger dragons twisted and spun through the air, coming within clawlengths of each other and sometimes lightly striking the other. Hiccup roared happily as Toothless spiraled over Windshear.

The play fighting slowly moved away from the Hunters and Riders. The dragons ended up over the forest, adding to the challenge by slipping in and out of the trees.

"_**Up!" **_Hiccup roared.

Toothless chirred and shot straight up. Windshear followed his lead and soon both dragons were high above the forest and trading swipes with their tails and gentle claws.

The playfulness abruptly ended when the Hunter leader jerked, distracting Windshear. She slammed into Toothless, prompting an angry roar and throwing her riders off-balance.

Toothless shot a small blast at her as he flapped further away. The blast hit Windshear, throwing her sideways. Heather yelped and tumbled off Windshear's back!

Hiccup roared in panic, then cooed in relief when Heather snagged Windshear's hind paw. Windshear floundered mid-air, distracted with her humans. Toothless' mouth opened, a power blast building.

"_**Done!" **_Windshear squawked.

Toothless gave a fierce growl, though Hiccup suspected it was just for show. Windshear made as if to head back to the floating dens, then the Hunter leader yelled and threw something.

The object hit Toothless in the face. He roared in pain and shock, wingbeats briefly faltering.

Hiccup snarled at the Hunter who'd hurt and trapped the Spike-Flinger flock and the Riders, and forced Heather and Windshear to attack their own friends. Now, he'd hurt Toothless!

The solution to all their problems was quite clear to Hiccup: get the Hunter leader away from Windshear and Heather and leave him far away from his Hunters.

While Toothless and Windshear steadied themselves, Hiccup crouched. He spread his wings, intending to knock the leader from Windshear's back. It would make for a hard landing -the human was about Hiccup's size and Hiccup could only glide- but he _had_ to free Windshear and Heather! Hiccup leaped.

And shrieked, having just noticed something very important.

Apparently, in changing scales, Hiccup had now lost his wings.

* * *

Heather had seen plenty of last-ditch plans. She'd been involved in or concocted her own fair share of them, too. But nothing compared to Hiccup throwing himself off Toothless' back, aiming for Dagur if his narrow-eyed gaze was any indication.

A second later, Hiccup apparently realized how poorly thought out his plan was. He roared as he fell short of Dagur, headed right for…

Heather had a second to curse Hiccup's poor planning abilities, then his forehead struck hers and it suddenly wasn't her problem anymore.

* * *

**A/N: Good luck convincing me that the other dragons don't know about Windshear and Heather pretending to work for the enemy.**

**My only regret is that Advil doesn't exist in Viking times, because there's about three concussions going on now.**


	13. Guess Who's Not a Dragon Anymore

**A/N: You know when you're reading a story, then something funny catches you by surprise and you just snort? (Or is it just me?) Anyway, I did that. To my own story. I surprised myself and snorted. You'll probably know the line when you see it. XD**

**A little bit of soft Dagur in here. Because he loves his sis. 0w0**

**Response to Random Fan: -dramatically throws hands in the air- Freedom! Astrid's got too much strength with too fast reflexes. XD And poor Snotlout wouldn't be able to sit for a month if Hookfang had taken the fast way out of the net. XD He can! XD Hiccup was mimicking Astrid from the previous chapter. Pretty much everyone needs headache relief now. XD**

* * *

Toothless took his attention of Hiccup for five seconds, not thinking Hiccup could get into trouble in so little time. Toothless didn't even notice right off that something was wrong, not until Windshear roared in panic.

He shook off the last of his dizziness and saw Windshear's tail whip by. He looked down and saw she'd dropped into a dive. A second later, he saw the reason: two humans falling to the forest far below.

"_**Hiccup!"**_ Toothless shrieked.

Toothless dove, but he knew he wouldn't be fast enough and roared at Windshear to catch his Rider.

Windshear and the humans were nearly at the treetops when Windshear reached out. Her wings snapped open, pulling her up sharply for a second before she vanished into the forest.

Toothless pulled up from his dive and followed the swaying trees and snap of branches. When the sounds finally stopped, Toothless dove to the ground. He looked around, attention drawn by a yell from high up a tree.

Barely sparing the stranded Dagur a glance, Toothless roared, "_**Windshear!"**_

After a tense moment, Windshear roared painfully, "_**Here."**_

Toothless ran toward the roar, quickly having to dodge debris from Windshear's crash. He soon found the slim dragon, her scales scratched and dirtied, curled on the ground. She lifted her head, hissing slightly.

Toothless stopped and lowered his head. Windshear blinked at him, then shifted and stood. Toothless' ears pricked forward.

Hiccup and Heather were balled up on the ground, limbs slightly tangled. Both were unconscious. Hiccup had a bit of blood under his nose and Heather's face was scratched.

"_**Rough landing," **_Windshear said apologetically.

Toothless nudged his Rider with his muzzle. Hiccup groaned slightly.

Toothless leaned back with a rumble. "_**Hurt. Go nest?"**_

Windshear bobbed her head. "_**Nest."**_

Windshear swept her tail forward and wrapped the tip around Heather's middle. She lifted her Rider, leaving Hiccup where he laid. She stepped away.

Toothless dipped his head in thanks for saving his Rider.

Windshear cooed and spread her battered wings. She lifted slowly into the air and flew back toward the ships, only pausing briefly to pluck Dagur from the tree.

Toothless watched Windshear fly away, then turned back to Hiccup.

* * *

Astrid had a headache and occasional double vision, but Viking stubbornness dragged her to her feet and into the saddle. She reassured Stormfly, then checked on the other Riders.

Fishlegs and Meatlug were guarding a cage holding an Edge Nadder and her hatchlings. Hookfang was free, but too busy dodging arrows and bolas to fight back. The twins were trying to chase a groggy Nadder into the forest, but were largely unsuccessful. Barf and Belch were nowhere to be seen.

"We can't win this, girl," Astrid said in frustration. Even with the unexplained absence of the Berserker siblings, the Hunters were steadily gaining the upper hand.

Stormfly squawked and flung some spikes at Hunters trying to load a cage on their boat. The cage was dropped, jarring the dragon inside and making her roar.

A furious roar answered the caged dragon from behind.

Astrid twisted as two… no, one Edge Nadder raced from the trees. He roared and spewed flames across the battleground.

Vikings and Hunters froze and stared at the black-speckled Nadder. Then, one… or, two identical Edge Nadders rushed out from behind him. Without slowing, they barreled through the Hunters, flinging them every which way and only stopping when they reached a cage. At the edge of the forest, the black-speckled Nadder threw his head back and bellowed.

Unease pricked Astrid as crashing answered his roar. "Stormfly, up!"

Stormfly squawked and shot into the sky as a stampede of Edge Nadders ran from the trees. They all roared and shot magnesium blasts at the Hunters.

Astrid frantically scanned the chaos for the other Riders. Hookfang had already been airborne, so Snotlout was safe. Meatlug rose into the air when the Edge Nadders reached the cage she was guarding.

"Where's Ruff and Tuff?" Astrid asked when Meatlug hovered by Stormfly.

Fishlegs looked down, then pointed. "There!"

Astrid spotted the ragged-winged Edge Nadder. He was still swaying sleepily, but held both twins in the air by the back of their armor.

"That Nadder Hiccup freed must have gone to get the others," Fishlegs said in clear amazement. "They're rescuing their flock!"

"Or Hiccup brought them," Astrid said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Fishlegs agreed.

"Guys," Snotlout interrupted, Hookfang having joined them. "We have a problem."

Astrid turned to see where he was pointing. This time, she didn't try to hide her groan upon seeing Windshear approaching.

"Snotlout, get the twins. I think Barf and Belch were caught," Astrid said. "We have to get out of here before anyone else is trapped."

"Wait," Fishlegs said, squinting. "Look, Astrid!"

"I am looking! What-" Astrid stopped and blinked. "What happened?"

Windshear flew slowly toward them, pained grunts becoming audible. She held a writhing, yelling Dagur in a hind paw. In her forepaws, Heather was limp and silent.

"Get to the ships, men!" Dagur bellowed once they were in earshot.

Any Hunter not struggling against an Edge Nadder looked up in shock. Even with the addition of the rest of the flock, Riders and Edge Nadders were losing. If the Hunters kept fighting for a bit longer, they'd be at least leaving with something!

"Now!" Dagur yelled in a volume Astrid usually associated with dragons.

Hunters threw down weapons and ran for the ships. Luckily for them, the Edge Nadders were too busy guarding their still-caged flock members to pursue.

Fishlegs chuckled and urged Meatlug forward. He called to the retreating Hunters, "If I were you, I'd use that ship."

A few Hunters paused, eyebrows raising when Fishlegs pointed to a ship docked slightly from the others. They glanced at the other, intact ships, then back to the Rider. A few Hunters reached one of the ships Fishlegs had suggested leaving. They started to board, then abruptly backed away.

Astrid leaned forward and squinted. Surely her eyes were still playing tricks on her, or was there green gas drifting up from the ships?

The next second, Barf and Belch rose from the furthest ship. Green gas still trailed from Barf's gaping jaws. Astrid could have sworn that Belch was smirking as he lowered his head. The resulting explosion shook the beach, knocking Hunters and even Edge Nadders to the sand.

The Hunters took their cue and bolted to the ship Fishlegs had suggested. Windshear dropped Dagur on the safe boat so the Berserker could yell at his Hunters to move faster, then coiled her tail around the figurehead to start pulling.

In record time, the Hunters boarded their ship without a captive dragon between the lot of them. The overburdened ship was shoved from shore and paddled away as quickly as the Hunters could manage.

"Fishlegs, you and Snotlout make sure they stay away this time," Astrid said, unwilling to take anymore chances.

"On it, Astrid," Fishlegs said.

Astrid nodded. "Come on, Stormfly. Those Nadders will need help with the cages."

Stormfly squawked and dropped to the sand. Several Nadders growled at Astrid, but Stormfly roared until the Edge Nadders calmed down.

"Thanks, girl," Astrid said, sliding to the ground. She went to where the twins were still being held. "Do you have the keys?"

Ruffnut nodded and dropped the keys. Astrid waited, but the twins weren't lowered.

"You coming?" Astrid finally asked.

"Well, we would," Ruffnut said, "But he won't put us down."

"I think we've been adopted," Tuffnut added.

Astrid felt her eyebrows raise. Not knowing what to say -how many Riders was this flock going to adopt?- Astrid just turned away and started unlocking cages.

In a short time, Astrid had the dragons freed and Barf and Belch reclaimed their Riders from the Edge Nadder.

Astrid didn't expect Fishlegs and Snotlout to return for a bit, so she focused on making sure the Edge Nadders were unharmed. Luckily, aside from shallow cuts from the Dragon Root arrows, only a couple dragons had deeper cuts that Astrid was sure would heal just fine.

It took her an uncomfortably long time to realize that one of the Riders was still unaccounted for. Actually, she didn't even notice until Fishlegs and Snotlout returned, and Snotlout asked about the resident dragon-boy.

"Oh, Thor," Astrid said. She scanned the beach, which was nearly empty as the Edge Nadders headed to their roost. "He's not here! I didn't see him during a lot of the fight, so I didn't think about him or Toothless!"

"It's alright," Fishlegs said calmly. "When was the last time you saw them?"

"Right there," Astrid said, pointing to Stormfly's crash site. "He and Toothless vanished when…" Her eyes widened. "Right before Windshear left the fight."

Astrid remembered Windshear and the Berserkers' rough condition. She hadn't given it much thought at the time, but…

"We have to find Hiccup now!" Astrid said, leaping onto Stormfly's back. "Stormfly, find Hiccup!"

Stormfly squawked. She sniffed the air, then broke into a run. The other Riders mounted their dragons and followed.

Stormfly sniffed and back-tracked her way through the forest, eventually coming upon a crash site. Astrid spotted a few of Windshear's scales on the ground, then Stormfly was off and running again.

"Are we headed toward the Edge?" Fishlegs asked a few minutes later.

Astrid nodded, having realized the same thing a short time before. "After whatever happened between Toothless and Windshear, Toothless must have brought Hiccup back to the Edge."

"Hey, guys, we have a follower!" Tuffnut suddenly piped up.

Astrid looked back to see the ragged-winged Edge Nadder following the group. She shook her head and faced forward.

"Go back!" Ruffnut yelled at the Nadder.

"We aren't your babies!" Tuffnut added.

Astrid ignored them and leaned over Stormfly's neck. "Come on, girl, faster!"

Stormfly squawked and took to the sky.

* * *

Toothless was, indeed, headed for the Edge. He didn't know how the battle was going at the ships, so it seemed safer to bring Hiccup to the Edge.

Toothless kept to the ground, out of view. He ran with Hiccup on his back, tail across his Rider to steady him.

Halfway to the Edge, Hiccup stirred and groaned.

"_**Still," **_Toothless roared. "_**Safe soon."**_

"Toothless?"

Toothless rumbled and stumbled in surprise. Hiccup grunted at the jolt, then sighed.

"You okay, bud?"

Toothless crooned without slowing. Hiccup's hand rubbed Toothless' side before he fell still and his breathing evened out again.

* * *

Heather opened her eyes to the sky. She blinked a couple times, slowly taking in the familiar click of Windshear's wings and and the warm body she was leaning against.

Heather shifted, causing the arms coiled around her middle to loosen. She sat up, groaning and rubbing her face when a headache made itself present.

"You awake now?" Dagur asked, leaning into her eye line.

"Uh… yeah." Heather struggled to remember what had happened. "Where are we?"

"Heading back to base," Dagur said, his frustrated voice telling Heather that they had captured no dragons. "Viggo's gonna _love _this!"

Heather shook her head, then looked around. Windshear was flying slowly along an overcrowded ship.

"What did those Riders do this time?" Heather had to ask.

"Their Zippleback blew up the rest of the fleet!"

Heather winced. "Oh, wow."

"At this rate, it'll take days longer to get back," Dagur said, mostly pouting since there wasn't any Riders to take his anger out on.

"Do we have to go straight back?" Heather asked.

Dagur raised an eyebrow at her. Heather forged on.

"Why do we have to come and go on Viggo's schedule? We obviously need more ships and dragons, anyway. Since when do we follow Viggo's orders?"

"You're right!" Dagur said, cheering up immensely. "He's not in charge of me, I'm in charge of me!"

Heather smiled to herself as Dagur yelled at the Hunters to change course. Sure, Viggo would be mad when they arrived off schedule, but she and Dagur wasn't about to let that deter them.

They were, after all, Berserkers. And Berserkers listened to no one.

* * *

Hiccup hurt. A _lot._ He was pretty sure his metal leg ached to some degree. He poked at his memories, trying to remember what could have caused his pain.

Eventually, Hiccup remembered the Edge Nadder roost. He'd kind of pushed his luck with that one. He had a vague memory of Toothless running through the forest and wondered if his dragon had found him. He rather hoped Toothless hadn't alerted Astrid of his… escapade.

Hiccup dragged his weary senses to the present. He was in his bed, it felt like. He heard people moving around.

Hiccup winced, guessing Astrid did know.

"I think he's waking up," said Fishlegs' voice. "Astrid, sit back-"

"I'm fine now, Fishlegs."

There was some more quiet bickering, then feet shuffled around him. Hiccup, figuring there was no sense in delaying the inevitable, forced his eyes open.

It was a bit of a surprise to find all the other Riders around him. Toothless peered over their heads.

"He's disoriented, give him room," Fishlegs said, waving Snotlout and the twins back.

Hiccup blinked at them, then focused on Astrid when the young woman knelt beside him. He searched for something to say. An involuntary grunt escaped him when he tried to shift his sore arms.

"Hey, it's okay," Astrid said, using a tone of voice she usually reserved for panicking dragons. "You're safe now."

Hiccup blinked at her. "You're not mad?"

Astrid shot to her feet so fast that she stumbled back and fell on her rear. Fishlegs startled, while Toothless gave a throaty laugh.

"A-Astrid!" Hiccup struggled into a sitting position. "Are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" Astrid repeated, not making a move to stand. "Am _I _alright?!"

Hiccup panicked a little at the increasing anger in her voice. He looked at the others. "What? What happened?"

Fishlegs just waved his hands with an unhelpful, "Well…"

The twins, frowning in seeming disappointment, didn't respond to Hiccup's question.

Snotlout threw his hands into the air. "That's what we needed to do?! You should have let me hit him sooner!" Snotlout started to stalk away, then spun back and pointed his finger at the room in general. "He jumped on my head! I would have returned the favor! No qualms!"

Hiccup looked behind him to make sure there wasn't someone behind him that they were talking about. He stared for a moment at the Edge Nadder watching him through the window.

"Uh…" Hiccup turned to the others.

"Yeah, he won't leave us be," Ruffnut said.

"I think he's adopted Ruff, me, and you," Tuffnut added.

"What?"

"Hiccup," Astrid said, rising to crouch beside him.

"Y-yes?" Hiccup said, nervous all over again at her sudden calm.

"What do you remember last?"

Hiccup winced. "I… I, uh, went to the Edge Nadder roost?"

"You don't remember anything else?"

"Toothless carried me back?" Hiccup tried weakly. "What happened?"

"Oh, Hiccup." Astrid gave him a worrying smile. "That was two days ago."

Hiccup's eyes widened. He took in Fishlegs' uncomfortable nod, the twins' pleased expressions, and Snotlout's scowl. The Edge Nadder grumbled and Toothless growled at him.

Hiccup then looked at himself. His armor was battered, and his palms were scratched and filthy. He had a bad, fishy taste in the back of his mouth.

Hiccup felt a lump in his pocket and pulled it out. He stared at his old stuffed dragon, then lowered it and met Astrid's mischievous eyes.

"What did I do?"

"Where do we start?" Astrid said, putting her hands behind her back. "You thought you were a dragon…"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "No."

Astrid grinned. "Yep. Completely wild dragon, too. You convinced Stormfly to hide you in the forest, then _attacked _me when I came after you."

"You jumped on my head!" Snotlout repeated.

"The Edge Nadders adopted you," Tuffnut said.

"I think you impressed them with your drawing skills," Ruffnut added.

"We had to treat you like a wild dragon, right down to getting your trust," Fishlegs said.

"Much like you gave Toothless his tailfin back, I gave you your foot back," Astrid said.

Hiccup watched for some sign that they were messing with him. "Y-you're kidding, right? Why would I do all that?"

Astrid shrugged. "And we don't even know what happened when you got caught by Hunters."

Hiccup whipped his gaze to her. "I didn't."

"You did."

"N-no, now I know you're making things up," Hiccup said unconvincingly.

Toothless huffed, catching Hiccup's attention. The Night Fury's long-suffering stare convinced Hiccup.

Hiccup put his face into his hands. "Start at the beginning."

Astrid was only too happy to explain.

* * *

**A/N: Too, too happy.**

**Well, thanks for coming along on my random, ramble-induced story about the chaos that follows dragon-boy Hiccup. You all have been amazing and so enthusiastic. Until next time!**

**Griffin, outQ**


End file.
